Casting Shadows: Like Moths to the Flame
by Dr. ForgottenFables
Summary: Danny had finally found a way to get rid of the ghosts, and after sealing them away he wanted to move on with his life. But when his parents move the family to Heatherfield, he ends up in a different interdimensional conflict. As the mystic hearts all meet, will they learn to work together to stop Phobos, or will the misunderstandings keep them all divided? (episode chapter length)
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

 **Edited by Xbox432**

* * *

"Alright kids, we're here!" Jack Fenton shouted as the Fenton family pulled up in front of their new home in the family Ghost Assault Vehicle. It was just a small house at the edge of the town of Heatherfield.

"How about you two go explore the town a bit while your father and I unload some things," Maddie said with an encouraging smile back to her two children, Danny and Jazz.

"Whatever," Danny grumbled as he jumped down from the family RV. The black haired teen started walking off without looking back at his parents. He didn't even want to look at them.

"Danny, wait up," Jazz said, as she ran to catch up to him. "Danny please, I'm just as upset as you are about this move, but mom and dad are only trying to do what they think is best..." Jazz started but Danny didn't want to hear it.

"They don't care about us at all. That's why they never asked if we wanted to move away from all of our friends," Danny snapped bitterly. "They just wanted to move because all the Ghosts dried up in Amity Park, so they wanted to go to another city with strange monster reports."

"Danny that's not true..." Jazz said, reaching out a hand to hold her little brother back, but her hand moved straight through him.

"I just don't want to hear it right now," Danny said before disappearing from sight.

Danny was sitting on the top of the tallest building he could find, trying to lose himself in the wind blowing past his ears.

But as he sat there his hand went into the neck of his shirt and drew out a dark green ring on a silver chain. The ring was an ugly thing with a skull engraved on the front of it and a slight glow that pulsed a sickly mixture of green and purple in the shadows around Danny's fingers. The Ring of Rage, the symbol of power in the Ghost Zone which allowed its true owner to draw upon the Ghost Zone's near limitless mystical energy. It was the physical vessel of the Ghost Zone's mystic Heart, the Heart of Darkness.

Frostbite had told him that most world's mystic Hearts would only change hands willingly, but the Ghost Zone was different in that regard. Danny had gained ownership of it the same way anyone would have; by defeating its previous master in single combat.

Once he had learned to control the ring's power, he used it to create a Veil around the Ghost Zone in order to stop the Ghosts from ever invading Earth again. So he had been the reason the Ghosts had stopped appearing and all the portals to the Ghost Zone had closed. Only Ghosts with unique powers or artifacts, such as Wulf's claws or Frostbite's Infinity Map could get through Danny's veil; all the natural portals had been closed.

Secretly, deep inside of his Heart, Danny was glad to be out of Amity Park. After he had used his powers to put an end to all the adventures, Sam and Tucker had been different. It was as if their friendship had required Danny to be constantly risking his life for them. Sam had been especially bad about it. Going as far as to say that Danny had given up what had made him special. Tucker had tried to put on a show of still being interested, but it was still clear that he was distancing himself from Danny. Without Ghosts to fight, Danny was no hero, he was just a freaky little boy with freaky powers.

It made no sense, how was the Ghosts disappearing a bad thing? People were safe. Wasn't that all that mattered? It wasn't like Danny was some kind of masochist who enjoyed being hurt in battle. Maybe that was why he was so unhappy. Because he felt guilty for not missing Amity Park.

It didn't matter, he was done with it all. Done with Ghosts. Done with fighting. Done with his old life. Or at least... that's what he thought. But one mystic Heart always attracts another. For better... or for worse.

Danny stood up and slipped the Ring of Rage back under his shirt. He turned invisible and took a step off the roof and let the air rush past him as he fell towards the ground, only using his powers of flight to regain control just before he would have hit the concrete. He didn't even bother to make sure that no one was around. He emitted a wave of glamour from the Ring of Rage so that anyone who might have seen him returning to the visible spectrum would believe that it was just an ordinary daily occurrence and forget about it.

"I guess I might as well get a feel for the town on foot," Danny mumbled to himself as he walked down the streets.

Within the next hour he had found the middle school he would be attending and the local movie theater. He briefly considered going to a movie, but there were nothing but chick flicks and monster movies, and he wasn't in the mood for a monster movie at the moment.

He was just about to start heading back to his new home, when he passed a poorly lit book store. He stopped and stared hard at it. There didn't seem to be anything strange about it, other than the fact that half the lights in the place must have been broken. But before he knew it he found himself opening the door and walking in. The air was heavy and had an almost hypnotizing quality to it.

Danny stopped in a single row of shelves and looked up at several books that had strange swirling letters on their spines. Danny felt like he should have known what the characters said, but nothing came to him. He was just starting to reach out for one of the books when a voice jogged him out of his trance.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you with something?" Standing at the end of the book shelf was a girl Danny's age, with blue eyes and straw colored hair worn in twin braids.

"Well uh..." Danny stammered at a loss for what to say. The girl started to giggle at him. "I... I'm not really looking for anything really," Danny said embarrassed. "I don't even know why I came in here. I'm not really one for books, but if felt like this place was calling to me." He started to rub the back of his neck. "I guess that doesn't make any sense, huh."

"Actually it does. I can't remember why I first came here either. But I like it, so I got a part-time job here," the girl said. "I'm Elyon, Elyon Brown."

"Danny Fenton," Danny replied looking around. "So you... work here?"

"Yeah, the store manager, Cedric, he's really nice," Elyon said. The two of them talked for hours before Danny realized that he needed to go home.

"Sorry, I kind of need to go home before my parents drive through the streets in a tank again looking for me," Danny said as he got up to go.

"Wouldn't they just call you? You do have a cell phone, right?" Elyon asked curiously.

"I do, but they don't," Danny chuckled.

"Well then how about we exchange numbers. Maybe we could talk again sometime," Elyon said, smiling sheepishly.

"Um... yeah," Danny said, pulling out his phone and exchanging numbers with the girl. "So I'll see you later." Danny said, trying to hold down a blush as he exited the store. After he turned a corner he put up his invisibility and flew off at full speed before the reality of what had just happened could sink in.

Back at the store Elyon was already punching in the speed dial for her friend Cornelia to tell her all about it.

The Heart of Darkness had met the Heart of Light.

* * *

"Hi guys," Will said as she met up with Cornelia and Taranee outside of Heatherfield Middle School. "Ready for another day in the rut of evil?" The leader of the Guardians of the Veil joked. Will was a fairly normal looking girl, average height with plain brown eyes though she was easily spotted by her short crimson hair. No one would have expected her of being one of the magical guardians charged with protecting the world.

"Will, school isn't that bad," Taranee said, rolling her eyes behind her glasses. Taranee was the guardian of fire, though she was the most grounded person on the team usually being the one to drag everyone back to the topic at hand. She had darker skin and short dark hair from her mixed African and Oriental heritage. "If you just put in a little more effort then you wouldn't have such a hard time."

"Speak for yourself, Taranee. For all of us who aren't geniuses school is more deadly than Meridian," Cornelia said, pushing back her long golden hair. Cornelia was the Guardian of Earth and the drama queen of the group. Though to be fair, all of the girls where far too ok with the fact that they all suddenly gained magical powers. Any ordinary person would have freaked out.

"Well, if I don't get my grades up my mom is going to ground me for sure. I really wish that all this Guardian stuff would take a... what's that?" Will changed subjects abruptly as shouts of panic came from near the entrance of the school and a large silver RV that looked like a tank flew around the corner and pulled up to the school with one of the wheels driven up onto the curve. One of the doors opened and a boy jumped out.

He had messy black hair and blue eyes and was wearing a loose T-shirt. He looked extremely embarrassed as a woman dressed in a sky blue jumpsuit stuck her head out of the passenger's window and shouted. "By sweetie! We'll see you after school! Make sure you share the snicker-doodles I packed in your lunch!"

The boy groaned as the people out in front of the school were divided between laughing at his expanse and staring in mute shock at the tank before it drove away.

"Wow, and I thought my parents were embarrassing," Cornelia said, wincing at the sight of the boy walking along towards the school.

"I don't recognize him. And someone with an entrance like that one would be hard to forget," Will said, suddenly glad that her mother was at least not that embarrassing.

"You're right, he must be a new student," Taranee said.

As the boy passed them Will started to feel dizzy. "What the..." she mumbled, putting a hand to her head. The Heart of Kandrakar lit up bright pink to get their attention.

"Will? What are you doing, turn it off before anyone sees it," Cornelia hissed.

"I'm not telling it to do this," Will hissed back as she tried to cover the ornament while the three guardians tried to make a shield around it with their bodies. The glow became brighter and an image appeared inside of the glass orb in the middle of the Heart. It was a hologram of the new boy only with white hair and dark green eyes. Wisps of dark green, purple and black energy flowing out of a spot on his chest.

The image was only there for two seconds before it disappeared. "Um, what was that?" Taranee asked a little scared.

"I... I think it was a warning," Will said, looking to where the boy was entering the school. "That the new student isn't what he seems."

* * *

Danny walked into the school and quickly went to one of the bathrooms. Just like in every school the bathroom was empty and disgusting, as if the condition was a universal law for every school bathroom after elementary school.

He reached into his shirt and pulled out the Ring of Rage that was starting to give off heat, with green and purple flames dancing around it. "What's your problem?" Danny muttered angrily. The flames grew hotter. "Cut it out or I'll flush you down the toilet," he threatened. The flames died a little but an image of a girl in an odd purple and blue outfit with small fairy wings growing out of its back appeared in what was left of the fire.

'Guardians...' The ring whispered.

"I don't know what that is, but I really don't care. So if you don't mind being good so I can get on with my life, I would appreciate it," Danny grumbled. The flames died off completely and Danny slipped the ring back into his shirt. Danny had long since realized that the ring had a bit of a mind of its own but since it couldn't really effect the world around him without his say so, he really didn't care. Most of what the ring wanted him to do was fight. So he was content to ignore it.

Danny went to the office to pick up his schedule, but he was sent into the principal's office instead. 'My first day and I'm already in the principal's office. Great start.'

"Mr. Fenton, I have received your records from your previous school and I wish for you to know that such a lack of attendance will not be tolerated at..." Principle Nickerbocker stammered on. Danny couldn't help his old attendance record. He had been fighting Ghosts all the time, he couldn't do anything about it. But that wasn't something he could tell the gray haired old woman.

The speech lasted so long that the bell to start first period rang. "Um, Mrs. Nickerbocker, shouldn't I be getting to class now?" Danny said, to try and get out of there.

The principle glared at him but nodded and handed him his schedule. Danny sighed and read the list. It didn't take him that long to find his classroom but when he entered all eyes went to him.

"Oh you must be the new student. Daniel is it?" The teacher asked. Danny remembered that the name on the sheet had been Mr. Collins for history. The man had reddish hair and a really thick mustache that looked pretty comical.

"Danny, sir," Danny said trying to be respectful, but he hated it when people called him Daniel.

"Well Danny, you're late. And here at Heatherfield we have a zero tolerance for tardiness," the teacher said lifting up his role sheet.

Danny's eyebrow raised. It was his first day of school and it was the principle's fault he had been late, and he wasn't about to get in trouble for something that wasn't his fault. He called on the power of the Ring of Rage. 'You're going to let me off with just a warning since it is my first day of school.' Danny placed the hypnotic suggestion inside of the teacher's mind.

Mr. Collins paused for a second before say. "I'm going to let you off with just a warning, since it is your first day of school," He said before letting Danny go.

Danny felt a small sting of gilt, using his powers on Humans like that. But the sting of gilt was actually reassuring to him. Normal Ghosts were incapable of feeling guilt or shame. Even the kindest of them never felt bad about their decisions. A Ghost like Poindexter could kill a dozen bullies and not feel like he did anything wrong. Danny's guilt was proof that he was still Human.

The Heart of the Ghost Zone granted him several powers, hypnotic suggestion, the illusions referred to as glamours, and a strong telekinesis were the more useful powers, but he also had the power to manipulate shadows and open and close portals to the Ghost Zone. It had also gave him the power to change his clothes at will, but that was more convenient than useful. He would have had even more powers, but he gave up most of them when he raised the Veil around the Ghost Zone. With his fighting days behind him the powers no longer had a purpose.

His eyes scanned the other kids in the room and stopped when he spotted Elyon waving at him. He went and took the seat next to her. "Good to see we're in the same class," Elyon said smiling.

"It's a small worlds after all," Danny chuckled lightly.

Cornelia's eyes widened from the other side of Elyon at the boy's plural use of the word world. "Cornelia, this is Danny, you know, the boy I told you about the other day that I met at the old book store," Elyon introduced him. "And Danny, this is my best friend Cornelia."

"Nice to meet you," Danny said nodding to the girl.

"Yeah... nice to meet you too," Cornelia said worriedly, as she glanced towards Will who looked equally uncomfortable. The beast in their midst was dating their friend.

After school, the Guardians met at the restaurant of Hay Lin's grandmother, the Silver Dragon, along with Caleb, to try to figure out what was going on.

"So let me get this straight, that scrawny little new kid in school is one of Phobos's beasts in disguise?" Irma said sarcastically. The water guardian often sounded like she was joking around even when things were serious. It was a form of coping mechanism for her. She had light brown hair and blue eyes and wore her title as 'class clown' with pride.

"I don't know you guys, isn't making assumptions like this what got us in trouble with Mr. Collins. You thought he was a beast too, remember?" Hay Lin pointed out. The happy go lucky Chinese girl was the first to point out the obvious patterns, being that she had a real passion for art. She wore her hair in two long ponytails that fluttered from her powers as the Guardian of Wind whenever she was excited.

"Yeah, but this time the Heart of Kandrakar reacted just from being in close proximity to him," Taranee pointed out. "I don't think there is any doubt that he isn't what he appears to be. The only real questions are what is he and why is he dating Elyon?"

"I still say the guy is too puny to worry about," Irma said crossing her arms.

"Well they aren't always the same size after they transform," Caleb pointed out. The young rebel leader was only a few months older than the girls with brown hair and eyes, but he had a lot more experience since he grew up in Meridian.

"His family sure looked out of this world," Cornelia said shaking her head. "Who drives around in a tank?"

"Is that even legal?" Will asked Taranee.

"I'm going to go with no, but I'm not sure if it was really a tank," Taranee said shrugging.

"I think we need to keep an eye on him just in case," Caleb said while scratching his chin. "There is always the chance that he has nothing to do with Phobos."

"Yeah, and there is a chance that Blunk is going to take a bath," Irma said rolling her head.

"We can't just wait for something to happen. What if something happens to Elyon?" Cornelia replied, worried about her childhood friend.

"If we can touch him with the Heart of Kandrakar, then he should be forced to take on his true form," Will said pulling out the Heart. "I say that we follow him until we can get him alone and give it a try. Agreed?" Some of the others nodded in agreement. Tomorrow, they would confront the new kid.

* * *

"Thanks for helping out, Danny," Elyon said, as they unpacked the last of the new book shipment.

"Don't mention it. I'd much rather be here with you than back home," Danny said shrugging. Elyon had been the only friend he had managed to make so far in Heatherfield. He felt drawn to her for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

"Thank you for all your help," Cedric said, coming out of the back room. He smiled at Elyon but only gave glances at Danny. Cedric was a tall man with long blond hair that he wore in a ponytail that reached halfway down his back. He was dressed in a simple white button up shirt and blue jeans. "But I'm afraid I have to close early today. I hope that I will see you again."

"Of course," Elyon said as she smiled. "Come on Danny, you can walk me home," she said, grabbing onto the boy and pulling him out the door.

"Man Cedric has a cool voice," Danny said as they left. "It's not quite the movie trailer voice kind of low pitch, but it would sure give that guy a run for his money. Like he spent his whole life reading dramatic poetry and just can't stop."

"Yeah, I don't know if it's his real voice or if it's just something that he does for fun. But he's never broken character." Elyon giggled. "That's probably why so many people come for poetry nights."

Back in the book store Cedric watched them leave. He gave a shiver as his eyes passed the boy and onto the girl who was supposed to be his target. Moving through the shelves he came to an old book with a withered binding and the writing of the beast upon its spine.

Cedric reached up and pulled on the book and passed through the injunction point into Meridian. He passed quickly through the labyrinth to where his Prince was waiting for him. As he went his body began to bubble with mystic energy and his form shifted into that of a beast. His true form was a massive serpent-like creature with the upper torso of a reptilian man but with a long snake's body extending out from where his legs should have been.

"Prince Phobosss," Lord Cedric said as he reached his Prince's throne room and bowed before him.

"Lord Cedric, for your sake I hope you bring good news," the dark Prince of Meridian said in a rather bored tone of voice as he looked down on his subject. Phobos was wearing a dark black and purple robe with a hat of a similar making.

"I have identified the Princesssss," Cedric hissed.

"Good, what is her name?" Phobos asked with a grin.

"Her name isss Elyon Brown," Cedric replied. "And I have earned her trussst. But..." Phobos frowned at the 'but'. "A boy has recently become clossse to her and... the boy makesss me uneasssy."

"The great Lord Cedric is afraid of a Human child?" Phobos joked but his face held a snarl. Cedric gulped as he realized that he was on thin ice.

"He hasn't yet ssshown any aggressssion towardsss me, but my inssstinctssss tell me to be wary of him whenever he entersss the room. I believe he holdsss some form of myssstic energy and that in our attemptsss to draw in the Princessss we caught another myssstic creature asss well," Cedric said grudgingly.

"I don't like unknown factors, Cedric," Phobos said lifting up a hand full of seeing sand. He throw it to the floor and as it stirred together an image of Elyon appeared. "So this is my little sister. She will make an exhalent Princess. For a while anyways," he said before both he and Cedric began to laugh loudly at how wonderfully their plans were falling into place.

But one of the chief guards, Vathek, a large man with blue skin in a heavy trench coat, looked over towards the sand with a different thought in mind. 'I must tell Caleb.' The spy thought. The Light of Meridian had to be protected, no matter what.

* * *

"Well, this is it, home sweet home," Elyon said as they stopped in front of the Brown's house. It looked like a fairly normal older two story house.

"Nice place," Danny said as they stood in front of the front gate.

"Yeah, but it is a little big for just a family of three," Elyon replied. "I kind of wish I had a brother or sister."

"I've got one you can have, hope you like people picking at your brains," Danny joked. They laughed for a little bit but then Danny started shifting his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, um... I hear the fair is going to be in town tomorrow, and I was wondering if you would like to go... with me," Danny said a bit embarrassed.

"Are you asking me for a date?" Elyon asked grinning.

"Are you saying yes?" Danny countered.

"When are you going to pick me up?" Elyon asked.

"Is tomorrow around seven good?" Danny asked back.

"Yes," Elyon finally said, giving Danny a kiss on the cheek before running inside.

Danny let out a lone exhale before turning to walk home as the sun began to set. He basked in the moment as he went. This was going to be his first date were no evil forces were involved in its set up. Elyon was a cute fun girl and she had said yes without any ghostly power influencing her choice. Danny felt good about himself.

But the sounds of the flapping of wings and whispers on the roof above him dragged him out of his high. "Who's there?" He snapped looked up towards where he had thought he had heard it coming from.

Everything was silent. "I must be going crazy." Danny muttered as he turned to go. "I hadn't sensed any Ghosts since I put up the Veil. I'm safe. Everyone is safe."

But as he passed a dark alley a fire hydrant began to make noise. Danny looked at it in surprise just before it exploded and a stream of water came right at him and pushed him into the alley.

Danny was just trying to get back to his feet when a large gust of wind pushed up against the wall hitting his head hard. Thick vines grew quickly across the wall to hold him in place.

"Hurry up... Will... the Heart..." Danny was having a hard time hearing after the hit to his head. But he saw a girl with dark red hair approach him with a bright pink jewel in her hand. She was dressed in an odd purple and blue costume and Danny could just see the corners of wings poking out behind her back.

"Alright this should work," the girl said as she brought the crystal to Danny's forehead and stared. "Girls, nothing's happening," a voice said, and Danny saw that there were four more of them behind this girl.

"So he isn't a beast in disguise. Oops," a girl with shoulder length light brown hair said shrugging.

"But the Heart was reacting to... what the..." the red haired girl stammered as the crystal glowed brighter. "What's that around his neck?"

Danny could feel the heat underneath his shirt as the Ring of Rage began to heat up as if begging to be found. The girl started to pull the ring out by the chain around Danny's neck.

'No!' Danny's mind shouted and the vines holding his right arm in place froze and shattered, he grabbed the girl's wrist, giving it a sharp twist so that she let out a scream and let go of the ring's chain so that it fell back to his chest. Then Danny threw her to the side.

"What the heck!?" A blond girl shouted.

"You can't have it," Danny said looking up, his eyes turning green. 'I need the ring. I need the power of the Heart of Darkness to maintain the Veil. I can't let it go. I can't be beaten.'

"Hay Lin, keep him against the wall! Cornelia, we need more vines!" The red haired girl shouted. A girl with long ponytails swept her arms and more wind blew against Danny to hold him against the wall but he turned intangible and passed straight through the wall and disappeared from sight.

Danny was about to teach them not to mess with a phantom.

* * *

"Where did he go?" Cornelia asked.

Hay Lin screamed as an arm moved out of the ground, grabbing onto her ankle and pulled her down into the ground up to her waist.

"Hay Lin!" Taranee shouted in surprise.

"Don't worry, I'll get her out," Cornelia said as she used her power over Earth to dig her teammate out of the ground.

"I don't know who you people are," Danny said, grabbing all their attention. Green wisps with some purple were flickering around his body from the green ring around his neck. "But if you're looking for a fight, you've got one. I'm going Ghost," he whispered the last part and a white ring appeared around his waist.

As it passed over his body, his skin darkened and his hair turned a snowy white. His clothes changed into a short sleeved black fighter's uniform with a white sash over his left shoulder that tied around his waist.

"This does not look good," Irma said as the dark green and purple energy moved around the ring on the boy's chest.

"Taranee, Hay Lin!" Will shouted. Taranee began to send a jet of flames at the boy and Hay Lin used her power over air to feed it oxygen and make it stronger.

Danny rushed towards the flames and pushed out a large amount of his ice powers to protect himself from the flames. Then as he pushed out the other side he kneed Taranee in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Hay Lin flew up and caught Taranee as the Fire Guardian was left gasping for breath.

"You'll pay for that, buddy!" Irma shouted angrily as she shot a large amount of water from her hands. Danny tried to just turn intangible to let the water pass through him but the magic inside of the water hit him full force and he was pushed back against a building wall again.

Danny put up a shield of green energy to protect himself but the water wouldn't let up. So he called on the power of the Heart of Darkness and took control of the shadows in the alley.

Three long black cables made of pure darkness flew from an area behind a garbage bin and wrapped themselves around the Water Guardian, one holding her hands together and the other two pulling on her feet to bring her back down to earth. "Help!" Irma shouted as she struggled against the binds.

"On it!" Will called back as she flew down next to Irma and held out the Heart of Kandrakar. The light from the Heart slowly destroyed the shadows.

Cornelia had summoned thick fifty foot vines to try to attack the boy, but she couldn't get a hit as he moved through the air, dodging every swing. Until a stream of fire pushed him back down as Taranee recovered from her earlier hit.

"Keep it up. There are five of use and just one of him," Will pointed out as she finished freeing Irma. Will flew up to him and sent out a blast of bright pink energy from the Heart of Kandrakar. But Danny dodged it and threw an energy shot of his own to knock the Guardian out, sending her spinning through the air and into the street.

Will shook her head as she tried to get rid of the blur in her vision. But as her sight returned she saw Danny systematically taking down one guardian after another. Cornelia and Hay Lin were frozen to the ground while Irma and Taranee were being bound together in a strange sticky green substance.

As she was trying to figure out what to do she heard a loud car horn as turned her head to see a truck speeding at her. She was still too dizzy from the earlier hit to move out of the way. But coils made of shadows moved out of the ground and wrapped themselves around her, obscuring her sight. The next thing she knew she was back in the alley, on her knees and surrounded by her knocked out friends. The shadows let go of her.

"You alright?" Danny said looking down at her with suspicion in his green eyes. He was clearly still on guard.

"You... you saved me? But why? I thought you worked for Phobos," Will said, confused and slightly scared.

"I don't know why you attacked me. But I doubt it's a good enough reason to die for," Danny said but then he frowned. "What a minute... aren't you in my history class?" He said confused then his eyes scanned the rest of the girls and spotted Cornelia. "And that's Elyon's friend, Corny or something."

"Cornelia," Will snorted.

A looked of understanding momentarily crossed Danny's face. But then he was back on guard. "I'm going now. But next time you choose to attack me out of the blue, I won't go so easy on you," he said before shrinking away into the shadows and disappearing from sight.

"Ok... what just happened?" Will asked herself as she scratched her head. But she got to work freeing her friends. The beast had been more than they had bargained for.

* * *

'The Heart... Kandrakar... I want to consume... their Heart...' The Ring of Rage whispered to Danny. 'Feed me it's power... and I will grant... strength beyond measure.' It tried to tempt him.

"Quiet. None of this would have happened if you hadn't started glowing. I bet you wanted this," Danny growled angrily as he hit the ring against a lamppost in order to shut it up. "Why can't my life just be normal?" He had the strangest feeling that he had been the bad guy.

* * *

Vathek moved as quickly as he could through the back alleys of the village at the foot of Phobos's castle. The place was as bleak as it got, Phobos used the roots of the massive dark tree that snaked its way through the land in order to drain the very life force of Meridian in order to fuel his magic. The magic he used to keep them under his heel.

But there was still hope. The Light of Meridian, the true heir to the throne, had been found. And she had the power to unite the people and overthrow her wicked brother. That is, if he didn't get to her first and drain away her powers to feed his own.

This was the reason why Vathek was running from shadow to shadow, doing his best to hide his large blue body underneath a dirty brown cloak.

The streets were crawling with the castle guard who were all looking for him in particular. His status as a spy was figured out the moment he broke duty and fled the palace in order to pass on the information about the Princess to Caleb. But there was no time for regrets, he needed to find a portal between worlds and fast, which meant he needed to find a Passling.

Straying his ears to hear over the few people who moved around in the market place, Vathek heard what he was looking for. "Goods for trade! Goods for trade!" He glanced out of the alley and spotted Blunk the Passling.

If you ever asked someone what a Passling was, the first thing they would tell you would be 'smelly', as Passlings usually lived in a garbage dump and took pride in their natural odor and never took baths. But if pressed to say something else, they might tell you how Passlings are thieves by nature. Their small toad-like bodies with long arms and long sticky fingers let them sneak around, grabbing anything that looked useful to them, which was almost everything.

But Passlings did have a useful skill. They could smell the changes in the air that accrue around portals between worlds, allowing them to seek out the portals and steal things from Earth that they would then trade on Meridian.

Most of the stuff that they stole was just garbage that wouldn't be missed and the Passlings never had a clue what it was that they took, but the people of Meridian were fascinated by the more culturally advanced world and often traded information for goods.

Vathek was in luck. This particular passing was known to be an informant of the Guardians and of the Rebels. He wouldn't just be able to help him find a portal, but also help him find the rebel leader.

"I'm coming Caleb," he mumbled before moving in on the Passling as discretely as possible.

* * *

"Hachu!" Hay Lin sneezed, sending a gust of wind through the basement of the Silver Dragon restaurant. She and Cornelia where huddled up in blankets near a radiator as they tried to warm up.

"I need a bath, a long LONG bath," Irma grumbled as she pulled a bit of the sticky green substance out of her hair and shuddered. "I can't believe he beat all of us. I mean, we're the Guardians of the Veil. How could we lose so badly to one kid?"

"I feel like there should be a glass houses statement somewhere in there, but you're right, he creamed all of us," Will agreed, secretly glad that she had gotten away so scot free. All of the other girls had been pretty roughed up by their brief encounter with their new classmate. It was their first experience at having a total loss while all together and with their full Guardian powers.

"You girls will learn that there are lots of great powers out there in the worlds, just be happy that the damage was so little this time," Yan Lin said as she brought Hay Lin and Cornelia some duck soup from the kitchens. The elderly woman was Hay Lin's grandmother and had been the Guardian of Air before Hay Lin. She was a little hunched over with age but was still livelier than most people half her age. The girls had often used the basement to hold their meetings.

"But why did he let us go? I mean, he took us out hard and then just left us, why?" Taranee asked the retired Guardian of Air.

"Well, why did he attack you in the first place?" Yan Lin asked them, as she handed Hay Lin her soup.

"Well... actually we attacked him because the Heart of Kandrakar was reacting to him," Hay Lin admitted to her grandmother, more than a little embarrassed. She blew lightly over the steaming soup, instantly cooling it several degrees.

"He's been getting close to my friend Elyon. I can't let him hurt her," Cornelia said stubbornly. But she gave a sneeze and pulled her blankets even more tightly around her.

"I'm not sure if he would... I mean, he didn't finish us off," Will said, then rubbed her arm as she thought back to those last moments in the alley. "He... even saved me from being hit by a truck." He hadn't seemed mad or aggressive. He had acted in a defensive manner. They had attacked him, and he had resisted.

"He did?" Irma asked surprised. "So is he working for Phobos or not?"

"What I want to know is what is he?" Taranee said crossing her arms. "When Will first touched him with the Heart of Kandrakar, nothing happen. It wasn't until she tried to take that weird ring that he suddenly freaked out on us and transformed."

"And he didn't exactly transform into a monster. He just changed clothes and colors. He didn't grow fifty feet and sprout wings or anything," Will added. In fact, his transformation had been not unlike their own.

"A ring... what ring?" Yan Lin asked the girls with some curiosity. "It could be a mystic artifact."

"It looked a little like this, only green." Hay Lin said showing her grandmother a drawing of the object that she had drawn on her hand. Will looked over to see that it was a fairly actuate drawing of the skull on the face of the ring.

Yan Lin took one look at it and her eyes widened for the first time that day. "The Ring of Rage," the old woman gasped.

"Oh wow, it even came with its own evil name," Irma commented drily, having no more clue what that was than the rest of them.

"Could you please remember that we are new at this job? What exactly is the Ring of Rage?" Will asked the former Guardian.

Yan Lin took a few seconds to decide where to begin before finally starting. "You know how Earth and Meridian are different worlds on separate plains of existence, correct?" The girls all nodded. "Well there are an endless number of other worlds besides just those two, such as Kandrakar."

"So Kandrakar is a real place?" Cornelia said, looking to the Heart of Kandrakar. Will brought her hand to the Heart. It all made sense, if there were two worlds, why not more.

"And here I thought it was just a cool name," Irma said shrugging.

"Every world has its own mystic Heart that is the source of the world's magic. Such as the Heart of Kandrakar that Will now holds." Yan Lin explained. "The Ring of Rage is the mystic Heart of yet another world, known as Tartarus."

"Tartarus? As in the deepest pit of the underworld that the Gods banished the Titans too in Greek Mythology?" Taranee asked.

"I thought that was nothing more than a story," Hay Lin said in surprise.

"You all should know better than anyone that myths are often based of facts," Yan Lin said with a slight smile. The girls thought back to the legend of the four dragons which was the history of their own powers. "In fact, most of the legends in Greek mythology stem from this world. Though it has been renamed, the Ghost Zone."

"You've got to be kidding me. Ghosts, really? Are you sure you took your meds this morning," Cornelia asked, earning herself an elbow in the ribs for insulting Hay Lin's grandmother.

"So... Danny is like the Guardian of Tartarus?" Will asked, feeling a little hopeful. The thought that the strange new boy was like them was comforting, it would have explained the understanding look that he had given her before he left. "Then there is no way he works for Phobos."

"In a way, yes," Yan Lin said, but then a frown crossed her face. "But in so many other ways, no. He may not work for Phobos, but he may still be even more dangerous."

"Of course he is, otherwise this would all be too easy," Irma grumbled.

"What do you mean, Grandma?" Hay Lin asked.

"Tartarus is nothing like Kandrakar. It is a world of conflict and destruction. The creatures known as Ghosts are brutal and violent, with no sense of empathy or regret. Willing to kill in order to gain power or fulfill their desires. And their Heart is the same way. Which is why it is often referred to as the Heart of Darkness," Yan Lin said crossly. "Where in all other worlds, the right to wield the mystic Heart's power can only be given willingly, Tartarus is different. Its Heart can only be taken by force, defeating the possessor in battle and taking it from him. And whoever holds the right to the Heart of Darkness is known as the King of Ghosts."

"So he doesn't work for the Prince of an Evil City, he is just the King of an Evil Universe," Taranee said miserably.

"I don't know..." Will said hesitantly. "He didn't seem all that evil."

"Will, you were the one that said we should attack him and force him to show his true form," Hay Lin pointed out.

"Yeah, well I..." Will stammered, trying to think of an excuse. She had been the one that had wanted to reveal his true form and then ship him back to Meridian, thinking that he was one of Phobos's beasts in disguise. But something had changed.

"Does any of that matter? We still don't know what any of this has to do with Elyon," Cornelia snapped at the rest of them.

"I think I might have a clue." Caleb said from the stairs as they all looked to the young rebel leader. "I just got word from Vathek, they've found out the identity of Phobos's sister. Her name... is Elyon Brown."

"That's... not possible," Cornelia stammered as she slowly went into shock. Her best friend, who she had known for all of her life, was the younger sister of her worst enemy.


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

 **Edited by Xbox432**

* * *

Dark twisted clouds. Rain so thick as to bend metal. Winds that rattled the building and shattered every windowpane. Lightning that lit up the dark sky and ripped through the heavy air with deafening thunder. It was a storm beyond imagination, a living, breathing monstrosity.

And floating in the middle of it all was Will in her guardian form, her body was transparent, unable to interact with the world around her. She was only an observer as the events unfolded around her.

As another powerful flash broke through the darkness a small speck fell down from the sky, crashing into a truck with such force as to snap it in two and crack the cement underneath it.

A small ring of white light appeared in the middle of the wreckage and when the next flash of lightning lit up the area it revealed what looked like a young boy with raven hair in a torn up t-shirt and jeans. It was Danny Fenton.

Will heard what sounded like wheezing laughter coming from the darkened sky above her. Looking up she saw some glowing neon green smoke descending from the sky. The smoke gathered into a cloud as bolts of lightning stroke its surface causing the whole thing to begin to twist around itself, forming a bright green glowing funnel. The twister suddenly grew arms and narrowed at the top into something that resembled a head with dark red eyes and a jack-lantern mouth.

"You thought you could... beat me? ...You insolent child!" The creature gloated, dry heaving with every few words, as if he was struggling with his own lack of air. "I shall cover... this world in the perfect storm... and there is nothing that anyone can do to... stop me!"

With that the creature dissolved into its mist and spread through the pitch black sky.

Will had been crippled by fear by the creature's presence. It had been like no monster she had to deal with from Meridian. But now that it was gone she started to regain her senses. "This... this is all just a dream," she mumbled to herself, hand against her head as she panted. "I will just wake up soon. And then it will all be over."

But a soft pink glow around her neck told her that the Heart of Kandrakar was not done showing her things. She felt herself pulled down towards the ground next to the truck that Danny had been thrown through.

For a few moments she had believed that he was dead. His body was covered in scars and lines of red blood were mixed in with the rain that covered his body and soaked through what was left of his tattered clothes. But his fingers began to twitch. In the light allowed to her by the Heart of Kandrakar, Will saw the boy slowly push himself up into a kneeling position.

He looked down at his own hands and small sparks of white light flickered around his finger before a ring appeared and slowly passed over them. His appearance changed, just like it had in the alley before they had fought, only now he was in what looked like a torn up black jumpsuit with white gloves and boots. But he had the same white hair and glowing green eyes. He glowed with a faint light in the surrounding darkness.

He slowly willed himself to stand but he was shaking on his feet.

"Where do you think you're going, Daniel?" A calm voice echoed around them before a strange looking blue baby in a purple cloak appeared in a swirl of blue mist. It held a long staff with a geared clock on one end and observed the boy with unblinking dark red eyes. Instead of legs the baby floated on what seemed to be a misty blue trail that extended out behind him like a tail.

"Clo...Clockwork," Danny said spitting out a bit of green blood as he did so.

"Vortex was Pariah's predecessor as the King of Ghosts. The ancient Greeks worshiped him as Zeus the God of the Storm," the baby said, but then his body began to shift and change till Will was looking at a middle aged creature of similar appearance. "Do you believe that you can defeat him?"

"It isn't a matter of... of can," Danny said looking up at the creature, the Ghost. "I have to... I'm the only one that stands a chance," a moment passed before he continued. "I think I understand now... I understand what separates Halfas from Ghosts."

"Halfa, what's a Halfa?" Will mumbled to herself, but no one could hear her.

"It isn't our minds, or our bodies, or our wills, or our obsessions. It is everything. Our lives that make us different," Danny said closing his eyes. "In the fight against Pariah, I won by exchanging my life-force for the power that I needed to win." His hands glowed a light green. "I don't know how much of it I used; ten years, twenty? But if I tried it again..."

"You are going to drain what's left of your life away in order to win." Clockwork said, but it wasn't a question it was only a statement.

"If I can save everyone... then it will be worth it," Danny said, he reopened his eyes and they glowed with his determination. "So why are you here, Clockwork? You've never tried to stop me before."

The figure aged again into a wrinkled old man, but his dark red eyes never changed, never lost their spark that seemed as if they were looking at the entire universe at once. "As always, you are right, but you are missing the bigger picture," the ancient Ghost said with a small smile playing on his face. "I am not here to stop you. I couldn't even if I wished to. But! I can give you an alternative," he said lifting a hand off of his staff and opening it to show a sickly green ring with a design like a skull on its face.

"Pariah's ring..." Danny said. Will was surprised by the amount of pure disgust in his voice. "Why do you have that, Clockwork!? It should have been thrown into Charybdis for all the trouble it's caused!"

"Daniel... this is the channel for the mystic Heart of the Ghost Zone. It will give power to the one who holds the right to it," Clockwork said seriously. Green and purple flames started to dance around the ring. "Turn it away, and stopping this threat to the world will cost you your life. And when you die, the ring will be without a master and it will cease to exist. Take it now, Daniel, and you will live. Take it, and you shall have all the power you could ever need. But you will have to guard the power of this Heart of Darkness for the rest of your life, lest it fall into evil hands. The choice is yours."

Danny stood there looking down at the ring, the flames were reflected in his luminous green orbs. The Heart of Kandrakar began to heat up as the boy bit his lip. "Dammit Clockwork... You're tempting me again. Seeing if I will give into the darkness to save myself," Danny said angrily, but his eyes didn't leave the ring. "I know the heroic thing to do would be to just let the ring and its evil disappear for good. But... Dammit... I want to live," Danny said, tears coming to his eyes as he lifted his hand and grabbed hold of the ring.

Darkness erupted from between Danny's fingers. Such darkness that even the sky, void of the light of the sun, seemed to be a bright shade of gray by comparison. Danny gave a shout of panic as the darkness spread over him until there was nothing left to see but a dark orb.

But slowly the orb disappeared and in its place was the Danny that Will had seen in the alley, the short sleeved black fighter's suit and the white sash. The light glow that had surround him had disappeared and his skin seemed darker than before. The air around them seemed to be pulsating with the mystical energy that was radiating from his body and the ground below his feet became covered in frost. Coils of the infinite darkness were moving about him. He had taken the darkness into his very being and became something different. A moment passed and then he disappeared from sight, leaving the ancient Ghost behind.

The wrinkled creature returned to the form of a baby but the smile never changed. "Daniel, the choice you have made will echo throughout history for all the years to come. And every world will feel the consequences. I'm looking forward to it. It should be quite a parade."

* * *

Will woke up with a start as she felt the Heart of Kandrakar burning against her chest. "Ouch, ouch, stop it!" Will shouted pulling the jewel out of her pajamas. The Heart was shining like a pink star. "Can you give me a break? You were the one that showed me all that." The Heart dimmed down and the heat disappeared. "Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the veil today," Will grumbled as she rubbed at a hole that had been burned in her pajamas. Underneath, the slight pink mark on her skin quickly disappearing, almost as if she had never been burned at all.

The Heart of Kandrakar was angry, that much Will could tell, it had been since the girls had faced Danny and lost. "Is that it? Are you being a sore loser?" Will said shaking the jewel back and forth. But it didn't answer, it never did.

Will gave up and started to get ready for school. But she couldn't get that dream out of her head. Danny had seemed so... she didn't even know how to describe it. Noble maybe?

But he couldn't be noble. Yan Lin had given them all a good summery of Ghosts, and the negative energy the radiated from him spoke for itself. But the boy was still stirring up feelings inside of her, feelings she didn't recognize. She didn't want to think about it anymore, but she doubted the other girls were about to drop the subject.

"Just another day with the worst job ever," the red headed guardian grumbled as she left her house. She really wasn't looking forward to the day.

* * *

"I don't believe this!" Cornelia said for what must have been the hundredth time. The blond haired guardian of Earth had been keeping it all in at school as to not make a scene, but now that they were all gathered in the Lin family basement again, she was letting it all lose. "Elyon can't be Phobos's sister, I've known her my entire life! She was born thirteen years ago, right here in Heatherfield!"

"How could you possible know that for sure? It isn't like we've seen her birth records or anything," Taranee pointed out. They were all fairly used to Cornelia's meltdowns, but today's seemed especially bad.

"I just know, ok!" Cornelia shouted causing the Fire Guardian to jump back. "I don't care what you say, I'm not fighting her!" Will yawned loudly drawing in the earth girl's wrath. "Oh, sorry you don't feel like this isn't important oh great leader."

"Calm down, Corny," Irma said trying to wave back the angry blonde.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Irmy!" Cornelia said angrily. Caleb, Blunk, and Vathek were standing in a corner, trying their best to go unnoticed by the drama queen's tantrum.

"Cornelia, I'm sorry, the Heart of Kardrakar didn't feel like letting me sleep very well last night," Will apologized, trying to reclaim control of the situation. "But in any case, none of this means that Elyon has suddenly become our enemy, it just means that she's going to be targeted by Phobos and his creatures."

"Oh is that all!" Cornelia shouted, making Will realize her slip up. "I should just calm down because my best friend is only being targeted by evil monsters!" Cornelia crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. "What are we going to do?"

"Finally a reasonable question." Yan Lin said as she descended the stairs into the basement holding a tray of tea.

"What do you think we should do, Grandma?" Hay Lin asked their wise elder.

"Well the first step is to take a deep breath and remember that you are all in this together. Fighting among yourselves will only leave you weakened and make this task even more difficult," Yan Lin said calmly as she handed Cornelia a cup of tea. Cornelia nodded a little grudgingly as she took the cup. "And then you must come up with a plan of action as a group. Phobos cannot take his sister against her will. The Heart of Meridian holds great power, even if she is not aware of it."

"Well that's a relief at least," Taranee said with a small sigh as she moved a hand through her short dark hair.

"Yeah, now we only have to worry about her super powerful monster boyfriend," Irma said sarcastically, but the words hung in the air as everyone went silent. The loss at Danny's hands was still fresh in their minds.

Will had noticed the glares and worried looks that the other girls had been throwing in Danny's direction the whole day at school. But the young Ghost King didn't even seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't show it. He had been polite to her when they had passed by each other in class, not mentioning anything about what had happened the night before. She couldn't understand it, they had attacked him, but he didn't care at all.

Will still was trying to make up her mind about him. He was dangerous, but they didn't have any proof that he wanted to hurt them or anyone else. There was even a bit of evidence against that. But Yan Lin had warned them against the dark spirits that lingered in Tartarus. But was Danny even really one of them?

"Just because Phobos cannot work directly, doesn't mean he will give up. He will send his beasts disguised in Human form to try to lure her over to his side," Yan Lin said, trying to drag the girls out of their thoughts. "She will be drawn to them for reasons she does not understand. Right now she is still very vulnerable, and you will need to protect her."

"Well that's a huge, 'no really?'." Irma said rolling her eyes. "But how are we supposed to protect her?"

Will looked around at the rest of them. "Well... what about Danny?" She said testing the waters.

"You're right, we'll have to figure out a way of getting rid of him," Cornelia said missing the point.

"That's not what I meant," Will said and grimaced a little as she saw the confusion in their eyes. "I mean... he's Elyon's boyfriend, right? So maybe he could help... you know, protect her."

All the others looked at her like she was crazy. "Will, are you insane! Are you forgetting that he isn't even Human? We can't possibly trust him... No offense Vathek." Taranee said glancing at the huge blue creature who shrugged as he struggled with the tea cup that was several sizes too small for his hands.

"But he hasn't done anything to hurt anybody. And you saw how strong he was. He beat all five of us at once." Will pointed out.

"And that is supposed to make us trust him more!?" Cornelia said incredulously. "If he decided to do anything to Elyon, we'd be powerless to stop him!"

"He wouldn't!" Will shouted back. "I know he won't, I can feel it!" Will immediately regretted her choice of words.

"Feel? Will, please tell me you haven't fallen for him," Irma said raising an eyebrow.

"What!? No!" Will shouted as her face turned the same shade of red as her hair.

"Will, you can't, Danny is Elyon's boyfriend," Hay Lin said.

"I think you mean, he's evil, Hay Hay," Irma said crossing her arms, causing Hay Lin to rub the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"Guys, I don't have a crush on him! I just think that he could really help us if he knew what was going on!" Will protested. But then she gave a little yelp and pulled out the Heart of Kardrakar which was burning like a torch.

"Well, it looks like the Heart disagrees with you," Cornelia said crossly.

"Thanks a lot," Will grumbled as the Heart continued to glow on the end of its necklace.

"Will, I know you are just trying to follow your instincts, but as long as that boy holds the Ring of Rage, it is too dangerous for him to know anything," Yan Lin said trying to keep the peace. "Just as you five girls were drawn together by forces beyond your understanding, all the mystic Hearts gravitate towards one another without any of theirs masters being aware of it."

"So you're saying there is a chance that he doesn't know that Elyon has the Heart of Meridian?" Taranee asked.

Yan Lin nodded. "Not only that, but he might also be unaware that you hold the Heart of Kandrakar. A fact that most likely saved your lives," Yan Lin continued. "Kandrakar, Earth, and Tartarus all have a long and bloody history together. While Kandrakar represents peace and order, Tartarus holds nothing but war and chaos. The two forces have been at war with each other longer than mankind has been on Earth. And much of that war found Earth caught in the middle."

"But that doesn't mean that Danny is evil," Will protested again.

"Perhaps not, but with the Ring of Rage, he could steal away the power of other worlds' Hearts even without their permission. If he knew that Elyon held the Heart of Meridian he could drain her powers for himself and become even stronger," Yan Lin warned. "It is within a Ghost's nature to try to gain power for self-preservation or conquest, it does not matter."

'And... what if he wasn't a Ghost?' Will thought as she looked at the Heart of Kandrakar. But the jewel continued to glow a bright and angry pink at her.

"So we need to keep an eye on him at all times." Caleb said, finally feeling like adding to the conversation. "Where is he right now?"

"Oh no," Cornelia said covering her mouth.

"What do you mean, 'Oh no'?" Caleb asked raising an eyebrow.

"He's at the carnival, on a date with Elyon right now," Cornelia elaborated.

"What!? And you are just now telling us this?" Taranee said, just a little shocked.

"The Carnival? That where portal is!" Blunk said. The Passling shrank back as they all looked at him.

"There was an open portal... and you didn't tell us!" Will said angrily.

"How you think Blunk and Big Blue Thing got here?" Blunk asked, making a surprising amount of sense.

"You girls must go now, lest the balance of power be lost to the darkness," Yan Lin said.

"Oh yeah, balance of power," Irma said sarcastically as they all started moving. "I'd hate to see that impression of his boot in our backsides get even bigger."

* * *

"What do you mean you can't find him!?" Phobos's voice echoed through the dark throne room as Cedric gave his report.

"We believe that the traitor, Vathek, hasss managed to find hisss way to Earth," Cedric hissed as he bowed before his Prince, hoping beyond hope that his Prince would deem torturing or killing him as a waste of energy.

"Then why aren't you going after him! Take the Larvex and track him down! He must not pass on the news of my sister to the rebel leader, no matter the costs!" Phobos barked.

"Sssir, the Larvex is a difficult to control creature. Its pressssence on Earth might not go unnoticed," Cedric pointed out.

"You speak as if I should care, now go!" Phobos ordered. Cedric turned and left. He would follow his Prince's orders. He just hoped his cover wouldn't end up blown.

* * *

No one knew exactly what to think when people from the general population of Heatherfield, people who were used to the ordinary and the simple, watched as what appeared to be a silver hover craft descended in front of the carnival.

The specter speeder lowered itself to just a few inches above the ground before the door slid open and Danny and Elyon jumped out. "Thanks for the ride, Jazz," Danny said to his older sister who was sitting behind the seat of the futuristic vehicle.

"Don't mention it. I'll come back to pick you up around midnight, but you can call me at any time 'if' something 'weird' happens and you need to be picked up," Jazz said, as if she expected something weird to happen. "So have fun." She finished and the doors closed before the Speeder flew off into the air, turning on the active cloaking as she went.

"Danny, did I ever tell you that your family has the coolest stuff ever," Elyon laughed at the dumbfounded looks on the faces of the people around them.

"Stuff huh? That's an interesting term for it," Danny joked.

"You know what I mean. Everything at you place looks like it came straight out of a science fiction novel," Elyon said excitedly. "It so cool, in a weird way."

"I guess, but most people would rather not live in a science fiction book," Danny pointed out at a man who was shouted about aliens. "And weird would be the right word for it. My parents are so embarrassing."

"Maybe, I've always liked the more medieval fantasy stories myself. The kind my parents had always read to me when I was little," Elyon said looking up at the late evening sky where the very first stars where just starting to peak out after the sunset.

"Still wouldn't like to live in one of those. Fire proofing your house against dragons would be a pain," Danny joked before starting to run ahead towards the carnival. "Come on, or do you want to just stand there until the whole carnival moves on without us ever get through the front get!"

"Alright!" Elyon laughed, chasing after him through the front gates and towards the flashing lights of the carnival. They didn't know about the creature that was entering the grounds from the other side. A Fenton attracts trouble no matter where they go.

* * *

The five Guardians, Caleb, Vathek, and Blunk had found their way to the top of the hill overlooking the back of the carnival where they found a swirling sky blue gateway between Earth and Meridian. One of the holes in the Veil that was meant to escalate Phobos's evil in Meridian.

Will lifted up the Heart of Kandrakar and watched as the portal shank away into nothing. A few questions danced around her mind about the inherent wrongness about using all that power to just cut the planet off from interfering with other worlds and leaving its people under Phobos's rule. But this whole world was so knew to all of them that she didn't know how to judge it or who even to talk to about it.

Yan Lin always seemed to avoid answering the deeper questions about what was going on. Like that she had not told them about the threat of the Ghosts until Danny showed up on their door step with the Ring of Rage.

"So they're somewhere down there in all those people?" Caleb said as they looked down at the crowds of people lining up for the attractions. "How are we supposed to find them?"

"Something tells me that finding them isn't going to be a problem," Will said as she held up the Heart of Kandrakar, which was glowing like crazy. An image appeared in the crystal of Danny with Elyon, laughing as they stumbled out of the exit of the spinning tea cups ride. "The Heart of Kandrakar can find him pretty easy," Will said as she hid the necklace away under her shirt. She didn't believe Yan Lin when she had said that Danny might try to steal their mystic heart, but the idea still gave Will goose-bumps.

"So what do we do? Try to tail them without being seen?" Taranee suggested.

"I don't think that will work. The Heart of Tartarus probably reacts to the Heart of Kandrakar presence the same way our Heart reacts to his. So I'm guessing that he already knows we're around," Will said scanning her eyes over to where the Heart had shown them to be to see the two moving towards the roller coaster.

"So what, do we just pretend we have just happened to bump into them?" Irma said squinting down at the pair.

"Doubt that he would fall for it, but at least it will be a good excuse for Elyon," Hay Lin said.

"Then we'll split up into two groups, Will and Cornelia will be with me. Taranee, you take Hay Lin and Irma," Caleb said before turning to Blunk and Vathek. "I'm afraid that you two would stand out too much, so you'll have to stay here," he said a little apologetically. "We'll alternate which group is with them but don't stray too far. Everyone understand?" The girls of WITCH all nodded. "Then let's move."

* * *

"You sure you're alright?" Danny laughed as Elyon held onto one of the railings as they waited at the end of the line for the roller coaster.

"I'm great, but we might have over done it with the spinning cups," Elyon said grinning. "I'm a little surprised that the thing didn't snap off and roll away with us inside it."

"Well if you don't think you can handle the roller coaster, then you can always back out right now," Danny teased.

"No way, you back out," Elyon laughed back giving him a light push.

It felt good to be just two ordinary kids at the carnival. Danny had missed the feeling of being a kid. He had been through a literal interpretation of hell during the year of his life since he had gotten his Ghost powers, but it all seemed so far away at that moment. Like it had happened to someone else in some other time.

That is, until the Ring of Rage felt hot against his skin and he heard it whispering to him. 'Guardians...' Danny's hand went to his chest and squeezed down on the ring.

"Something wrong, Danny?" Elyon asked shifting around as leaning forward so that she could look up into his face. "You aren't scared are you?" She teased.

Danny quickly removed the serious look from his face and grinned. "It's nothing, just got a feeling like we're being watched," Danny said in the corniest voice he could manage, causing the girl to break out laughing.

"Danny that is the most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard," Elyon laughed.

"Hey, Elyon!" Danny and Elyon turned their heads to see Will waving at them as she walked up to stand behind them in line with Cornelia and a boy that Danny didn't recognize.

"Oh Elyon what a surprise to run into you here," Cornelia said with an attempt at a smile.

"Um, Cornelia, I told you that Danny and I were going to be here for our date, remember?" Elyon said glancing at Danny who looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Oh really, well I just... that is to say..." Cornelia struggle to think of something but Will intervened.

"Oh Danny, you haven't met Caleb yet have you," Will said pulling out the brown haired boy.

"Hello," Caleb said glaring down at Danny. Danny grinned and reached out to shake Caleb's hand. The taller boy pulled Danny towards him in an attempt to act intimidating, but Danny wasn't really concerned and never lost his composure. Caleb might have been a whole head taller than the Ghost boy but Danny was definitely the more powerful one of the two.

Elyon was confused by the whole situation, she looked over to see that Cornelia was glaring daggers at Danny. "Cornelia, is something wrong?" Elyon asked.

"It's nothing," Cornelia responded quickly and turned her back to the others.

Elyon didn't understand what was happening, but something was deeply wrong.

* * *

Vathek was pacing back and forth in an agitated state at the edge of the carnival. "I can't take this waiting. What if something happens? I have to be closer than this," the giant blue humanoid grumbled as he felt helpless to aid in protecting his Princess.

"Big Blue Thing stand out too much," Blunk said as he ate some cotton candy he had pilfered from a nearby stand.

Vathek stopped pacing and looked down at one of the attractions near them, it was the haunted house. "Not in there." He said grinning as he started down the hill towards it.

"Wait for Blunk!" Blunk said as he happily followed.

* * *

Down in the heart of the carnival Elyon was starting to get fed up with the girls following them. They had followed them everywhere from the arcade all the way to the bumper cars. Switching between Cornelia, Will and Caleb and Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin between activities.

"This is crazy!" She finally said after they had stood in line for a second outside of the tunnel of love just to see if Irma's group would actually follow them, which they had with great embarrassment. But Danny and Elyon left that line immediately afterwards.

"I wonder which pair would have ended up in the swan together if we had just stuck in that line?" Danny asked curiously. He was taking things a lot more in stride than Elyon was.

"I thought you were crazy when you said we were being followed, but I guess you're right," Elyon admitted as she looked over her shoulder to find Cornelia's group pretending that they weren't watching. "I wish we could just get away from them."

"Your wish is my command," Danny joked as he pointed to the house of mirrors.

Elyon smiled and they ran off into the attraction with the WITCH girls and Caleb following close behind. Danny and Elyon moved quickly through the maze of mirrors, laughing all the while and calling back towards others.

"There they are," Caleb said as his group entered the maze. He took three fast steps and ran straight into a mirror, flattening his face.

Danny and Elyon were laughing at him and Will had to hold back her chuckles. "It's a house of mirrors, Caleb, you're going to have to move slower than that," Will said before moving more carefully into the maze.

It didn't take too long for Danny and Elyon to get to the end of the maze. "Alright, let's hurry before they caught up!" Elyon said laughing.

Danny grinned and made to follow her, but not before using the Ring of Rage to create a mirror like glamour over the exit. It would be a long while before the others found their way out.

* * *

"Does this place ever end?" Caleb complained as they had been wondering around the house of mirrors for fifteen minutes.

"I feel like it shouldn't be taking us this long to find our way out," Will agreed as they walked around. But then the Heart of Kandrakar lit up.

"Will, cut it out! What if someone sees it!?" Cornelia snapped as her head shot around, looking for anyone else, but no one had enter the house after them.

"It's not like I'm telling it to. The Heart has just been doing whatever it wants recently," Will whispered back. The light was reflecting off of all the mirrors making it hard to see. All except for one at the end of a dead end a few feet to their right. Will walked closer to it and the mirror disappeared. "That mirror was just an illusion," She said surprised.

"That sneaky jerk tricked us," Cornelia said angrily.

"Can you blame him, we are kind of ruining their date," Will said as they moved out of the house of mirrors. Cornelia glared at her leader but Caleb took charge.

"We need to find them again. Let's spilt up and search." He suggested.

"Fine!" Cornelia said angrily and walked off with Caleb moving in another direction.

"They do remember that I have the Heart, right?" Will said to herself before finding a porter-potty nearby. As soon as she was inside she pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar again. "Alright, so where are they?" She asked the heart. It showed her an image of a small dining area. The two were at a table that was hidden from the inside of the carnival.

Will put the Heart away and briefly considered contacting the other girls, but decided that she would find the two first before anything else. So she moved towards were she knew the two would be hiding.

She found the spot quickly and sat down at a table around the corner from theirs where they couldn't see her, but she could still hear them talking.

"What is with them today? Are they trying to ruin our date?" Elyon said angrily. "And everything was going so well too. I hadn't been that happy in a while," Will winced a little guiltily.

"They are just trying to look out for you. That's what friends do," Danny said trying to calm Elyon down. Will was surprised to find that Danny was trying to defend them. Especially after everything they had done.

"I don't think friends follow you around on your date and glare at your boyfriend for three hours," Elyon said with a tired sigh. "How can you be so forgiving?"

"Well, I would do the same thing if I was in their shoes." Danny said scratching his head. "Actually I have done the same thing before."

"What, really?" Elyon asked, a little disbelieving.

"Well, a while back when I still lived in Amity Park, our school got this one exchange student," Danny started his story. "He was Mr. Cool and Interesting, he said he was from Hungary or something and he had this really thick accent and was into all this interesting culture and stuff. So one of my friends ended up falling for the guy and they ended up dating."

Will had the strangest sense that she had heard all this before. "But he happened to dress and act a lot like the GIW, who I guess you can think of as the local Neo Nazis mixed in with the Mafia," Danny continued his story. "So I freaked out thinking that Sam was going to be dragged into something bad and followed them around throughout her date to try to make sure that she was alright. I saw the GIW moving around them a lot and the guy definitely had something to do with it. But no one took me seriously because they all thought I was just a jealous paranoid jerk."

"So what happened?" Elyon asked. Will leaned in closer to hear better.

"Well... while they were on their date, the GIW came by the restaurant that they were at and... well... they shot up the place," Danny started laughing. Will nearly fell out of her seat at his laughter. "Turned out they had mistook the boy for someone on their hit list and tried to kill him. I ended up having to save the moron along with Sam."

"No way," Elyon looked incredulous.

"Oh it gets better. After we had gotten out of that mess he had a break down. His accent was fake, he wasn't really from Hungary, and he wasn't part of the cultural movement that he claimed to be from. The guy was a complete fake," Danny said.

Elyon started laughing now. "We actually had the same thing happen around here once with a girl from Switzerland," Elyon said through her laughter. "Though no one was shot at in that story."

"The point is, your friends have just convinced themselves that I am somehow a bad guy. Just give it a week and it will probably pass." Danny said leaning back and waving his hand. "They'll see that I am no one dangerous and then go back to their own definition of normal."

"I guess you might be right, but I don't have to like it," Elyon said.

Will leaned back away from them. "What am I doing?" She asked herself. Danny hadn't done anything wrong and they were treating him like a criminal, all because of some form of prejudice against a bunch of creatures that they didn't even know existed until the day before. They didn't even know if he really was a Ghost at all.

"We have three tickets left, so that's one ride and a game. What do you feel like doing?" Danny said getting up from his seat.

"I'd rather not go any further into the carnival in case the other girls see us," Elyon said looking around before spotting the Haunted House nearby. "The haunted house, perfect."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "A haunted house, really?" He said in a joking voice.

"What are you scared?" Elyon teased, giving him a light push on the shoulder.

"Hardly, don't you know what my family does for a living?" Danny said crossing his arms.

"Yeah yeah, you're a bunch of big bad Ghost hunters." Elyon said rolling her eyes. "I bet you won't last five minutes without screaming."

Danny grinned. "You're on. If I scream then you can use the last ticket, otherwise I get to use it," Danny said.

"Sounds good to me." Elyon laughed before running off towards the attraction leaving Will to walk away, sulking at the way that the girls had been treating Danny.

* * *

Blunk was having an interesting time moving around in the Haunted House after he got away from Vathek. The Passling was making the most of his time by trying to steal everything that wasn't bolted down.

He was usually a bit of a jumpy creature, but the set pieces along the ride where more weird than scary and the eerie sound track got dull fast.

But as Blunk tried to pull the pants off of a scarecrow his nose picked up a scent. "Smell like Meridian salt caves," Blunk said, he used his long arms to grab onto a fake vine and pull himself up onto the light fixtures as he moved towards the smell. But when he finally found where it was coming from he froze in real fear.

"Buggy..." He whimpered to himself as he looked down at the twenty foot long, dark greenish blown, caterpillar-like creature. The Larvex moved its head back and forth breathing in heavily as it tried to find the scent of its prey. Then it turned and fixed its glowing purple eyes on Blunk.

Blunk screamed and jumped out of the way as the worn shot a giant wad of sticky webbing out of a large hole in its chest. The Larvex gave a loud hiss and started chasing the Passling. But just as it finally caught up to Blunk, the Passling squeezed into an air vent and fled the building.

After escaping the creature Blunk stood panting for a few seconds before his brain rebooted. "I need to tell girls." Blunk finally said. He sniffed the air and ran off towards the scent of Cornelia's perfume.

He didn't see Danny and Elyon stepping into one of the cars for the Haunted House ride, unaware of the real monster that was inside.

* * *

Will was sitting down by herself off to the side of the carnival, thinking about all the things that she had heard Danny say. But she was jogged out of her thoughts when her friends stumbled across her.

"Will, what are you doing? We need to find Elyon before something happens," Cornelia said, glaring at Will who didn't look at them.

"No Cornelia, we don't, because nothing is going to happen," Will said a little angry herself. "Danny hasn't done anything wrong, but we're treating him like some kind of criminal."

"Not this again," Cornelia said crossing her arms. "We all agreed that he can't be trusted. What if he is trying to turn her against us right now?"

"I never agreed with any of that!" Will said sharply. "And he isn't trying to turn her against us! I found them a little while ago. Elyon was saying that we are all terrible friends that are ruining the night for her." Will looked up to see the girls shifting uneasily. "And guess what, Danny was defending us. Telling her that we were only worried about her and that he didn't mind. We attacked him, and he is defending us. This is just... wrong." Will got up and turned away from them. "If you want to continue this, then you will just have to do it without me, because I refuse to take anymore part in this."

The other girls were at a loss for what to say. Other than just being right about their actions being morally questionable, Will had the Heart of Kandrakar. Without her, they hardly had any powers, and Danny toasted them when they were all at full strength. If she pulled out then them continuing was a hopeless cause.

"You can't just say that!" Cornelia shouted.

"Well I just did," Will said, turning her back on her team. "I'm going home."

But before she could get far Blunk came barreling into the group. "Girls! Girls! Trouble!" The Passling shouted, grabbing onto Will's sleeve and trying to pull her in the direction that he had come from.

"Blunk, Caleb told you to stay back," Will snapped, still angry from everything that they had been doing so far that night.

"No time, hurry! There's a giant buggy thingy!" Blunk shouted, pointing towards the Haunted House attraction.

"Blunk, it's a haunted house ride, all the monsters are fake," Irma said, rolling her eyes.

"No! The buggy thing attack Blunk, and it smells of Meridian salt!" Blunk shouted, shaking his head back and forth.

"Oh no," Will grumbled. "The universe just loves to prove me wrong doesn't it."

"Why, what is it?" Hay Lin asked, not seeing any connection to what she had said.

"Remember when I said nothing bad would happen to Elyon? Well when I last saw them they were going to the Haunted House ride," Will said, trying not to see the look on Cornelia's face as she pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar. "Guardians Unite!" She shouted, the mystic energy flowed from the heart and into their bodies causing them to change into their Guardian forms.

They all started to fly towards the Haunted House. They could only hope that they were not too late.

* * *

"I'm actually impressed. I didn't know it was possible to be this level of not scared," Danny chuckled as he rode alongside Elyon in the dark tunnel with the 'scary' set pieces jumping out at them every few seconds. "I still don't get why that scarecrow had its pants down, but it has probably been the scariest thing in here so far."

"Oh shut up," Elyon mumbled, a little embarrassed since she had been made to jump multiple times already. They turned a corner and Elyon screamed again as a huge bugs head popped up right next to them. Its glowing purple eyes framing its slime covered body. "Oh wow, that one looks so real," Elyon said shocked, not realizing that she had grabbed onto Danny's arm.

"Yeah, sure is a step up from the rest of the stuff in here," Danny agreed looking at the hideous thing. But he still wasn't scared, it had nothing on Pariah or Vortex, or even that picture of Mr. Lancer dressed as a woman. But it sure did seem real. Steam came out of the things mouth as it reared back up over them.

That was when the smile fell off of Danny's face. He could sense small traces of Aether, the essence of spirit, inside of the steamy breath.

Just as the head came down at their cart, Danny grabbed Elyon and jumped out of the car, pulling her along with him. The creature smashed into the wagon and hit it off the rails.

It took Elyon a second before she realized what had happened, but then she let out a scream. "Danny... that... that thing is real!"

The oversize caterpillar turned towards them and gave out a shriek of anger, a strange fluid irrupting from a vertical slit on its stomach that splatter the ground near Danny and Elyon.

"Come on, we got to get out of here!" Danny shouted and started to pull Elyon along behind him. But after a few steps he heard her scream again as she was pulled from his hands.

Turning around he saw her laying on the ground behind him with one of her feet stuck to the ground with some kind of webbing. "Elyon!" Danny shouted his pulse quickening. The creature was closing in on her.

Glancing around quickly Danny grabbed a shovel that was propped up next to a fake grave. If that bug wanted Elyon, he would give it one hell of a fight for her.

* * *

The Guardians peered in through some imitation stain glass window down on the scene inside the ride. They saw the monstrous caterpillar-like creature moving around inside.

"Well... it is a buggy thingy," Taranee said with a shudder. The girl had always had a hard time with bugs and even though her Guardian powers had gotten rid of her fear of fire and heights, it had not cured her dread of insects.

"Will look!" Hay Lin said point at a point on the ground just in front of the Larvex. Laying there was Elyon one of her feet being held to the ground by a giant wad of white snot, leaving her directly in the path of the monster.

"Elyon!" Cornelia shouted seeing her best friend in danger.

"Wait, if we go in their then our identities will be revealed," Taranee said quickly.

"How can you think about something like that at a time like this?" Irma said angrily.

"Irma's right, we're going in!" Will said, but before they could do anything the giant bug lunged down at Elyon. Cornelia screamed and shut her eyes.

But then a monstrous scream of pain filled the air as Danny had stepped out in front of Elyon and had used a spade to strike the Larvex, leaving a two foot long gash across its body near its head and causing it to back away in pain.

"Back off, Bug Breath," Danny commanded as he held the spade out in front of him. His hand was gripped around its center of mass, a little closer to the head, and a purple liquid dripped from the edge of the shovel, which seemed to have a soft green glow to it.

The girls were too stunned by his sudden appearance to think. The Heart of Kandrakar glowed bright pink as a small green and purple light glowed from the Ring of Rage that had fallen out of Danny's shirt and rested in plain sight on his chest. If his back hadn't been turned to Elyon, she would have easily seen the wicked looking ring.

The Larvex screamed and the slit on its stomach opened up and large wads of the white webbing shot towards Danny and Elyon. Rather than standing aside which would have ended up getting Elyon hurt, Danny stood his ground and used the spade to bat the stuff aside.

Will felt it again. The same feeling that she had had in her dream, but now she could place it. It was admiration. The same kind that she sometimes felt for the retired Guardian of Air, Yan Lin.

Danny was a form of Guardian just like them, but unlike them, he had experience. Every move he made was fluid and practiced. He didn't hesitate and he didn't just throw his powers around and hope for the results he was looking for. He was a real fighter. Will wondered if that was what Yan Lin had been like in her prime, a skilled warrior.

But soon the goo was starting to stick to the head of the spade, weighing it down more and more as it piled up. So Danny rushed forward continuing to block the webbing as best he could as he moved towards the giant caterpillar.

Once he was in range, the Larvex lunged down to try to bite Danny's head off, but the boy dodged it with only a few inches of space between him and the monster's mouth. Then, before the creature could pulled its head back, Danny's elbow landed a clean hit in its eye.

The Larvex shot back, screaming in pain after the hit, giving Danny a perfect opening to shove the head of the shovel into the a hole in the bug's chest. The slit clamped down on the head in order to stop it from going any further in as the beast writhed around in pain.

"This should teach you not to spit at people!" Danny shouted, before he kneed the handle of the shovel and pushed in a good foot into the bug's body.

The Larvex swayed around before falling down to the ground on its side, the slit in its stomach still trying to cough up the shovel. Danny standing tall over it before turning around and returning to a stunned Elyon.

* * *

Elyon couldn't believe what she was seeing. A monster had appeared before her and had tried to kill her. She had been scared out of her mind as it had towered over her. But the moment Danny had stepped between them, she had felt safe. The fear simply disappeared as she watched him fight the giant monster, and he had won.

Danny had remained completely calm and had beaten the creature back while protecting her. She had known that his family were ghost hunters, but she hadn't believed that the monsters had really existed. But after watching Danny bring down the giant caterpillar, she was a believer.

"How you holding up?" Danny asked her as he kneeled before her and checked on her leg.

"I'm... I'm alright. But... what was that thing?" Elyon asked with a slight shiver.

"To be honest with you, I have no idea what that thing is," Danny said as he touched her shoe. "We're lucky that the webbing only got your boot. I'm going to take it off, alright?" He said.

Elyon nodded and he gently untied the laces and lifted her leg free. Elyon winced as he did so. But then she noticed that the creature was still moving and had spat out the spade from its chest-mouth-thing. "Danny!" Elyon shouted.

Danny turned to see the monster getting back up and he dropped into a stance. But before the beast came at them again a seven foot tall blue man in a heavy brown jacket jumped on the monster's head and started hitting it with its huge fists.

"What's going on?" Elyon asked, confused as the two creatures did battle.

"Don't know, not going to complain," Danny said, scooping Elyon up bridal style and starting to run towards the exit. "Don't worry Elyon, I'll keep you safe."

Elyon looked up at Danny's determined face. He had never been anything but happy go luck, a joker with tons of fun and interesting stories. But right then he looked more like a battle hardened soldier.

She thought back to his story about the boy who had dated his friend, but his identity had been a complete lie. Was that what this was? Who was Danny Fenton? The happy go lucky boy who couldn't be serious about anything, or the hardened soldier that was carrying her away from danger?

Elyon wrapped her arms around his neck for support and buried her head in his shirt. Regardless of who he really was, he was there for her. That's all she cared about. She didn't notice the hideous green ring that had manage to fall out of Danny's shirt and was dangling in plain sight.

Nor did she see when Danny created a double and sent it back into the room they had just left. He was not going to let the monster get away with attacking his friend so easily.

* * *

The moment Danny and Elyon were out of the picture, the W.I.T.C.H. girls jumped into action. Hay Lin blasted the windows with a gust of wind and they moved to help Vathek.

Vathek was thrown off of the Larvex and sent flying through the air. But before he could hit the ground Hay Lin called on a strong updraft to break his downward momentum to lighten his hit. "You alright, Vathek?" Caleb shouted as he ran into the room.

"Peachy," Vathek grumbled as he got to his feet but then he was hit by a giant web ball and plastered to the wall.

"What the heck is this thing?" Taranee asked Caleb.

"A Larvex, one of Phobos's creatures! He uses them to hunt down members of the resistance after he gets something with their scent! I must have come in after Vathek!" Caleb shouted. He pulled off one of the fake skeletons' arms and began to hit the Larvex with it, but it had no effect at all and Caleb was sent flying from a whip of its sickle like tail.

"Caleb!" Cornelia gasped before turning her eyes on the monstrous bug. She gritted her teeth and pointed down at the ground. "Earth Arise!" She shouted but nothing happened.

After a moment of confusion, Irma kicked at the rocky surface beneath their feet and they all heard a bit of a hollow sound. "Plastic." She concluded.

Cornelia hardly had enough time to groan before another ball of webbing smacked into her and pinned her to the plastic ground.

"Cornelia!" Taranee shouted. The girls gathered to try to help her, but that proved to be a mistake as a third ball of webbing hit the group and held them all against the ground.

"Oh gross." Cornelia said as she struggled.

"Taranee, can you burn us free?" Will asked the guardian of Fire.

The webbing over Taranee's hands began to glow a dark red but didn't disappear. "That's not going to work! Larvex threads are fire proof!" Caleb shouted as he pulled himself up out of the shallow grave he had been knocked into.

"Irma?" Will said starting to get worried as the creature got closer.

"I don't have enough room around my hands to summon any water!" Irma cried as she tried to pull her bound hands free.

The Larvex was looming over them preparing to strike when it was suddenly pulled back ten feet. "I hope you haven't forgotten about me, you oversized pill bug," A slightly echoing voice said. The girls looked towards the other side of the Larvex to see Danny in his Ghost form with one hand grasped tightly around the creature's tail, but the Ring of Rage seemed to be missing from around his neck. "I still haven't taught you a lesson about attacking my friends."

In a feat of strength that Will wouldn't have believed possible for someone his size, Danny flung the Larvex in a shoulder toss onto a Frankenstein's monster's stage, flattening the table and the fake monster underneath the body of the real one.

Danny turned to the W.I.T.C.H. girls and cocked an eyebrow. "A bunch of fairy girls caught in a web. Wow this is becoming a weird night," he said in an argent manner. "Need a hand?"

"Saved by the person we've been tailing all night. Yep, I'm embarrassed," Irma said, her head dropping.

"How did you do that?" Will asked looking at the tossed bug with wide eyes.

"What, you mean throw the thing? It wasn't that hard, it only weighed around two tons," Danny said scratching its head. He could hardly believe the shocked looks on the girls' faces. "Haven't you figured out how to enhance your strength using the flow of power inside of your body? You have to have more than enough energy to do that much."

"Don't look down on us just because you can do a little trick," Cornelia said angrily.

"Corny, how about not making him angry. We aren't exactly in the best situation right now," Taranee said, still trying and failing to release them from the webbing, but it was no good. The web was completely fire proof.

Danny started to laugh. "A trick is it? Well then, for my next trick." He said as he walked towards them. He grabbed into the webbing turning it intangible and pulled it straight through the girls.

"Th...thanks," Will said as they all got up, feeling a bit embarrassed about having to be saved again.

"Don't worry about it. You're Elyon's friends after all. She'd be sad if I just let you get eaten," Danny said before looking towards the giant bug that was slowly pulling itself up again and climbed up a metal tower. "Man, I know Ghosts that aren't this stubborn. Do you people have some kind of method for getting rid of monsters? Because something tells me this guy won't fit in my thermos."

"Right, Taranee, Irma, the three of us will get it away from the walls so we can surround it. Cornelia, you and Hay Lin try to find something we can hold it in!" Will ordered as the girls took to the air.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that? There isn't any earth here!" Cornelia complained.

"Well, we have wood," Hay Lin said, pointing towards the wooden stage.

Cornelia gave a wicked grin. "Oh yeah, that will work just fine." She said, with a flick of her wrist the planks came to life and began to arrange themselves on the floor.

Taranee flew around the metal tower that the Larvex was perched on and grabbed onto one of the rings of the ladder that went up the side of the tower. Concentrating, she focused heat into the metal which traveled up the tower and began to burn the bug's legs. The Larvex gave a cry of pain and fell from the tower to the ground.

"Guys, move it over here!" Hay Lin said from above a wooden platform made to be the base of the crate they would transport the bug in.

"Ready Irma?" Will asked the Water Guardian.

"Born ready," Irma responded. Will shot a wave of the pink energy that came from the Heart of Kandrakar and Irma summoned a stream of water. The two streams hit the Larvex and pushed it onto the platform, but the creature wouldn't stop moving around.

"Hey, hold still will you!" Hay Lin shouted, but the bugs sickle like tail came around and almost sliced the Air Guardian in half. But a black cable made of pure darkness was wrapped around the creature's tail holding it back.

More cables appeared from the shadows in the room and snaked their way around the Larvex, holding it in place on the platform. "I've got it, you just concentrate on boxing it in," Danny said. He was kneeling with one hand on the ground, dark trails extending from where his fingers made contact with the plastic surface of the fake floor. Cornelia glared at him but nodded and more planks flew into place before Hay Lin sent nails flying through the air into their places. The dark cables disappeared and the creature began the thrash about, but the wood held up.

Danny was panting slightly. "Hey, are you okay?" Will asked the ghost boy.

"I'm... I'm fine. It's just a little difficult to use the shadows when you don't have the ring. It's drained me a little," he said as he slowly pushed himself off of his knees. He stumbled as he tried to regain his balance. "So if you feel like taking a cheap shot at me now's the time to do it, while I can't defend myself. You won't ever get a chance like this again," he said with a joking smile.

The girls of W.I.T.C.H. looked shocked at the opinion being so blatantly stated. "Kicking the guy who saved us while he is down. That would be a little low. Even if I still don't trust you," Irma said, trying to have something said to get rid of the awkward silence.

Danny laughed. "Good, because this body is just a fake anyways. All you would have succeed in doing is giving me a headache. But I suppose you aren't bad people if you wouldn't kill me while you had the chance."

"You're an astral drop," Hay Lin gasped.

"A what now?" The copy of Danny said scratching his head. "I don't know what you just said, but this body is really a kind of puppet that I'm controlling from a far. And multitasking is a pain in the neck. But right know my real body is with Elyon at the security office. Speaking of which security is on its way right now."

"Is Elyon alright?" Cornelia asked, too worried about her friend to remember that she didn't trust Danny.

"Her ankle is swollen a little, but she didn't even get a sprain," Danny said, but his face fell. "She is a little shaken though. Not that I can blame her for that." He sounded miserable as he said it. "I never thought any creatures would attack me here. I should have realized after you attacked me in that alleyway that getting out of all this supernatural mumbo jumbo was too much to wish for. I never dreamed that Elyon would be dragged into it." His head fell. "Maybe it would be better if I just distanced myself from her."

"What, no!?" Will shouted, grabbing Danny's attention. "I mean... that creature was after Vathek, no you," she said point towards the large blue humanoid that had been plastered to the wall. Caleb was trying to pull him free, but not with much luck.

"Speaking of which, a little help here?" Vathek mumbled awkwardly. Danny's clone walked up a pulled the webbing off of Vathek so that he fell to the floor. "Thanks," he said as he got up rubbing his face.

"No problem. But I'm afraid I've expending all the energy I left in this body," he said lifting his hands which were fading into a green mist. "Good luck getting that thing out of here without the cops seeing," Danny said with a wink before his body disappeared into green vapors that disappeared in a few seconds.

"Oh man, how are we going to get this thing out of here!?" Taranee shouted as she realized they had no clue what they were going to do. Suddenly they all really wished they were in the real Danny's shoes.

* * *

Elyon sighed as she sat in a chair in the security office with Danny massaging her swollen ankle. His cool fingers relieved the pain almost instantly as he checked the damage. "Nothing's broken. You'll be ready to walk again in just a few minutes," Danny said, sounding really sure of himself.

"Thanks," Elyon said. It was all she could think to say. What was someone supposed to talk just after they had almost been eaten by a giant bug? She searched her mind for a topic. "Danny, what do you think is going to happen?"

"Well, I'm going to guess that the cops are going to find nothing but the damage that the creature left behind, and then they will probably say something along the lines of, 'animatronics going haywire', or 'kids pull a practical joke gone wrong' or something."

"What!? But there is no way they could think those thing!" Elyon said incredulously.

"They'll know it's a lie. But a cop or journalist that talks about giant monsters, aliens, or ghosts, always ends up losing their job. So even if they know the truth, no one will talk about it," Danny said with a shrug. "I've once seen a flying pirate ship open fire on an elementary school, and they reported it to the news as a gas leak. Dozens injured, but luckily no one died."

"So... you have a lot of experience with this kind of stuff?" Elyon asked, though she had already guessed that from how calm Danny remained.

Danny's hands stopped moving. "My family hunts ghosts," he said a little sadly. "We moved to Heatherfield because the activity in my home town dried up and Heatherfield has had unexplained property damages and crazy unconfirmed monster sightings recently. Though nobody talks about it. They will all try to ignore it as long as possible, but something is probably happening." An awkward pause filled the air between them. "Elyon... I promise that I had nothing to do with that creature's appearance. But... if you want to stop seeing me, then... I'll understand," Danny said biting the inside of his cheek.

"Danny, I don't blame you," Elyon said placing a hand on his messy hair. "And as corny as it sounds, you can keep me safe."

Danny gave his usual foolish grin. "Sure I will. But that doesn't mean you should go looking for trouble, Mrs. Lois Lane."

One of the security team walked in carrying Elyon's missing shoe. The man looked pale as he said that on the behalf of the park he was deeply sorry, and that one of the animatronics must have gone wild somehow.

Elyon considered throwing a fit about the man lying, but he looked like he was going to faint at any second. So she ended up just walking out with Danny. "Well this night hasn't gone the way I had expected," Elyon said as they walked towards the exit. "It was magical, but not in the romantic way."

"Still want to live in a fantasy novel? Princess's get kidnapped all the time. Or used by their evil brothers," Danny said off handed as the moved through the crowd.

"Good thing I'm an only child then," Elyon said a little jokingly.

"Step right up and test your skill!" One of the con-artists shouted at everyone who passed his stand. "Bounce the ball off of the back board and into the hoop and get a prize!" The man shouted, gently tossing a basketball against a slanted back board so that it bounced off and into a hoop a half foot below. The man looked straight at Danny. "What about you, don't you want to win a prize for the lovely young lady?" The man said.

Danny glared at the man. He knew enough about physics to realize that the task was impossible once you got more than three feet away from the basket. But then he grinned and fingered the last ticket in his pocket. "Sure, why not," he said giving the man the ticket and taking the basketball.

The man had a look of superiority on his face, but his smile vanished as Danny tossed the ball and it bounced and landed in the basket. He hadn't seen the green shimmer of Danny's telekinesis gilding the ball in. "That... that's impossible. You must have cheated!" The man said angrily.

"Not at all good sir," Danny said with a grin. "How about that one." Danny pointed to a white stuffed dragon with gold wings. Danny handed the prize to Elyon and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "A dragon to guard your castle."

The straw haired girl blushed as she brought the toy close to her. The night hadn't gone as expected, but it was still magical.

* * *

"What!?" Phobos's voice boomed as he received a report on the day's events.

"Sssir, I..." Cedric started but he was cut off.

"Leave, now!" Phobos shouted angrily. He placed his head in his hands. How could things have gone that wrong? What were the chances?

Not only had the traitor Vathek reached the guardians, but the Larvex he had sent to capture the runaway guard-captain had attacked his sister.

These things were unfortunate, but he would turn them around to his advantage later on with well-placed lies and a little magic. The thing that was really troubling was the boy.

The Ghost King. Their little trap to draw in his sister had attracted the most dangerous creature in existence. The idea of all this happening was as absurd as they come. And this new Ghost King was nothing like the beings from legend who would wipe out a city to drive off boredom as casually as one might put on a sweater to keep out the cold.

Dread and panic pumped through the evil Prince, as he thought about everything he had been told about the dark creatures. But just underneath it all was a much more familiar feeling; greed. "I will have that power, even if it costs me everything I own," he said. He got up and began to go to his labyrinth library to find all the books on Ghosts that he could find.

He would not let this new element ruin his years of planning. Not in a million years.


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

 **Edited by Xbox432**

* * *

Will was not happy. That was a phrase that was becoming more and more common to describe her morning moods ever since she had first moved to Heatherfield, and even more so ever since Danny Fenton had come along.

"I can't believe them. After everything that happened," she grumbled as she walked along the sidewalk towards school. Usually she would get a ride in the morning from her mom, but she figured that she needed the air to help her cool off before she did something she regretted.

The thing on her nerves that particular morning was yet another argument with the rest of the Guardians about telling Danny about what was going on, if not with Elyon than at least with the situation in Meridian along the lines of the resistance. Danny's skill and power would come in a lot handy taking down Phobos and his creeps.

Caleb had agreed with her, on the condition that they not mention the Infinite City to him. The Infinite City was an endless underground structure that worked its way through the entire world of Meridian, and also acted as the home base for the resistance since Phobos and his armies had yet to discover its existence, and Caleb wanted to keep it that way. Hay Lin had also given her support. Not being one to hold a grudge, the young Guardian of Air had changed her mind about Danny since he had helped them.

But the other Guardians had been more hesitant saying that they should just observe him for a little longer. At least until they knew his motives. They had agreed to drop open hostilities for Elyon's sake, but that was as far as they had gotten, leaving Will and Hay Lin out voted three to two.

"What makes them so sure he has any motives!? Do we even have motives!?" Will shouted and kicked an empty soda can that was in front of her. She watched as it flew through the air, then all her anger turned to embarrassment as it hit someone in the back of the head. "Oh, I am so sorry I didn't mean..." Will started when the boy turned around rubbing his head. "Ma... Matt!" Will managed to stammer out. Her face went red as a tomato as her crush looked at her.

"Oh Will. Nice shot," Matt joked as he bent down and picked up the can. Matt had shoulder length black hair and a slight tan that gave him a bit of a shaggy look, which helped him out as he was the lead singer and guitarist of a hopeful boys' band. "Sure hope you were mad at the can and not me."

"I'm sorry I was just... I mean..." Will was trying to think of what to say when Matt started chuckling, causing her to just drop into an embarrassed silence.

"Hey it's fine. If you asked my grandpa he would probably say I've done something to deserve it," Matt said, calming Will down enough for her to notice the box labeled rabbit food.

"I didn't know you owned a rabbit," Will said, hoping to change the subject.

"I don't, I'm just helping out at my grandpa's pet store," Matt said nodding towards the building on his right. "You should come by sometime, I mean, when you aren't too busy."

"Ye...yeah. I'll do that," Will said, trying to hide her blush.

"Hey, I'm just about done here so, um... do you want to walk to school together?" Matt asked avoiding eye contact.

"I... I'd love to," Will said smiling, then she mentally kicked herself for using the word love.

"Great, just let me grab my backpack," Matt said walking into the pet store to a chorus of various barks, meows, and squawks from its occupants.

Will smiled to herself. Her bad morning had just gotten a lot better.

* * *

"I can't believe that nobody even mentioned it," Elyon mumbled during lunch as she pushed the mystery meat back, it wasn't like she would actually eat the stuff.

Her mind was still stuck on the events of the night before, with the giant monster bug and Danny's daring rescue. She just couldn't believe that no word of what had happened at the carnival had leaked out. "Is there some kind of government division that sensors all of it?" She asked Danny.

"No, at least I don't think that there is," Danny said with a shrug. "People just don't want to talk about it, and if they do talk about it then it isn't the government that labels them as crazy and dangerous. It's just how people work. I was a non-believer too until my first encounter with something I couldn't wrap my head around. And even then I was in denial for several hours. You're taking things really well."

Elyon thought about what he had said. It was true that Elyon had read a lot of fantasy books over the years, but she had never believed a word of it. If she hadn't seen the creature with her own eyes and had it try to eat her, she wouldn't have believed in it either. And she hadn't exactly told anyone what she had seen out of fear that they wouldn't believe her. Was it all really just Human nature? Was that why Danny never told her to begin with, because she wouldn't have believed him?

"Irma!" Someone shouted. Elyon turned her head to see that Martin, the stereo typical nerd with glasses who had a massive crush on Irma, was running towards Irma with a tray full of food. He didn't see as Uriah, the local low life bully with the jelled up hair, stuck out his foot to trip him.

Martin ran straight into the out stretched leg and tripped, sending his tray of food straight at the unsuspecting girls. But the food all took a strange and unlikely route through the air as it seemed to be pushed back by an invisible force in order to fall straight on Uriah's head. Elyon blinked several times, convinced that she had been seeing things. She had thought she had seen a green shimmer on the food and tray just before they had changed directions.

But she was brought out of that train of thought as what seemed like the entire cafeteria started to laugh at Uriah's expense. Uriah bared his teeth in frustration and glared down at Martin. "Why don't be more careful, nerd boy!?" He shouted angrily, but Martin was too busy trying to find his glasses, which had fallen off when he fell down. "Just for that I'm going to have to pound on you!" Uriah brought back a fist to punch the confused nerd, but Danny had gotten up and moved between him and Martin.

"Hey he just tripped, how about you just let bygones be bygones and try to find a shower," Danny said keeping the friendly smile on his face, but Elyon thought that there was something sharp in his tone, like he was warning the other boy to back off.

"Hey I don't need any lip from the stupid new kid, so why don't you get lost Fentonio!" Uriah said trying to grab Danny's shirt, but Danny brushed the hand aside in a very none aggressive manner.

"You want to back off and just leave to clean yourself up." Danny said keeping direct eye contact with the bully. His voice had an unusual calm and friendly tone to it.

"I... I want to back... off?" Uriah said, starting to sound more than a little confused.

"That would probably be best, Uriah," Matt said angrily as he entered the picture, picking up Martin's glasses and giving them to the boy. "This whole thing is your fault anyways since you were the one that tripped Martin in the first place."

Uriah seemed to snap back into his usual mind set and glared at Matt. "I did no such thing, the clumsy dope just tripped by himself," Uriah said and took a step towards Matt with the clear intention of starting a fight. But just as he made to throw a punch Danny grabbed his wrist and twisted it causing the bully to give a yelp of pain and stagger. "Now you've asked for it new kid, I am going to pound you and guitar boy!" The cafeteria was ringing with chants of 'fight, fight, fight!'

Elyon didn't know what to do. She wasn't exactly worried. She knew enough about Matt to know that the boy could handle himself, and Danny could take on a giant monster armed with nothing but a shovel. But that didn't mean that they should beat up Uriah, or even that they would.

She wanted to stop everything but before she could another voice came in and squashed all the others. "What's going on here!?" Mr. Collins shouted.

The crowd of students parted to let the teacher through. Someone in the audience said. "Uriah was about to fight Matt and the new kid."

Collins glared down at the situation and then pulled the three students away to his office. Ignoring everyone that was trying to say that it was not Danny or Matt's fault.

* * *

"I am very disappointed in the three of you. You should know better than to start fights in school. Don't you blaa blaa blaaa bla..." Mr. Collins' words just faded into meaningless dribble as he talked. Danny had heard it all before. Teachers rarely cared to hear what the students had to say, believing that all kids would just make up lies in order to try to get themselves out of trouble.

He had almost managed to get Uriah to stop using his hypnotic suggestion, but the guy was scum through and through, and it was difficult to force someone to do something against their free will.

"The punishment for fighting in school is three days suspension," Mr. Collins concluded. Matt tried to protest while Uriah just scoffed, not really caring about the punishment.

Danny frowned. He wasn't about to explain to his parents that he was suspended for stopping a bully from beating up one of his classmates. 'You are going to go easy on us. None of us are going to be suspended and you won't call our parents.' Danny thought hard towards the mustached history teacher.

The teacher paused before saying. "I'm going to go easy on you, so none of you are going to be suspended and I won't call your parents," he said causing Danny to grin, and Matt also gave a sigh of relief. That is until he said his next few words. "But you still need to be punished, so you will have to do a service to the school. You can either join the newspaper club..." Both Matt and Danny shivered at the thought. Danny didn't know about the newspaper club at this school, but he could easily remember the fan club ran the paper back at Casper. "...or you can help the janitor staff clean the halls tonight."

"Janitor!" Danny and Matt said at the same time.

"Wha?" Uriah said having not paid any attention.

'News.' Danny implanted the word into Uriah's head.

"News." Uriah said, scratching his head.

"Great! Then Daniel and Matthew will both clean the halls tonight and Uriah will help out the school newspaper club for the week," Mr. Collins said grinning.

"Say what!?" Uriah shouted in a panic, but Danny and Matt were already out of the room.

"Thank goodness we only have to clean up for one night," Matt said with a sigh of relief. "I was worried that he would suspend us. My parents would have probably forced me to quit my band as punishment if something like that happened."

"Yeah, I guess we did get off pretty easy," Danny said scratching his head. "Even though we didn't do anything wrong."

"Well that's the school system for you. Unfair on so many levels," Matt said shaking his head. "But I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Matt. Please don't call me Matthew, I hate that name." He said, reaching out to shake Danny's hand.

"Danny, not Daniel," Danny replied, taking the hand. "Guess we are going to be mopping up the school tonight."

"The great adventure awaits," Matt joked.

"There they are! Hey, Matt, Danny!" Will shouted running up with the rest of the fairy like girls along with Elyon.

"Are you two going to be alright? Collins isn't going to punish you guys is he?" Elyon asked concerned.

"Barely, we've got to help mop the halls and stuff tonight, but that's it. Uriah 'accidentally' chose to help the newspaper club for a week," Danny said chuckling.

"Oh man," Irma grumbled angrily. "As if being on the school paper wasn't bad enough already. Now I've got to do it with Uriah there too? Thanks a lot Taranee," Irma said glaring at the other girl. "I don't care that you signed up, but why did you have to drag me down with you?"

"Come on Irma, you're a creative person, and the paper needs to change. Right now it's so... so..." Taranee searched for the word.

"Incredibly lame," Elyon offered.

"Nail on the head there," Matt agreed getting a laugh out of the group.

Taranee was rolling her eyes at the others when the warning bell rang. "We need to get to class before we all get into trouble," she said as she walked off with the others following her.

Danny caught himself thinking that it could have been worse, and then immediately groaned as he realized he had jinxed it.

* * *

Cedric shifted through the halls of Heatherfield Middle School, being on guard as he made his way towards his target after sneaking in through a portal that Phobos had managed to get to open below the school cafeteria. He should have just pointed out that he could have entered through the front entrance, but it was best not to question the Prince's judgment.

He couldn't help cursing his luck being the one made to do this as he approached Elyon's locker. He was literally in the middle of enemy territory during the middle of the day simply because his Prince couldn't be patient enough to wait for nightfall like a normal villain. Sure the Prince was more than capable of deceit, he proved that much when he lured his parents to their deaths, but Phobos was far too used to sitting on top of his throne doing whatever he wished whenever he wished it to understand something like 'a time and a place'. And during the middle of the school day while all the girls were in their classes was neither the time, nor the place to try to steal the items needed for the Ceremony of the Amalgamation, which would make it easier to convince Elyon to join Phobos's side by tampering with her spirit.

And then there was the Ghost King. If that creature realized what Cedric was then he would more than likely be turned into a snake skin pimp coat faster than you could say 'Heart of Meridian'. Even the normal Human children spotting him could put him in a dangerous situation that could ruin his cover.

But somehow against all odds he had managed to get to Elyon's locker without anyone being alerted. His normal looking Human arm turned into the massive reptilian claw and he ripped the lock off of the girl's locker.

Shuffling through Elyon's things he quickly found what he needed. For the Ceremony of the Amalgamation to work Phobos would need to gather three symbols that represented Elyon; one of body, one of mind, and one of spirit. Cedric pulled a comb with more than a few of Elyon's straw colored hairs on it and a note book full of her notes for math class.

'These should be more than enough for her body and mind,' Cedric thought as he quickly left the school, glad that things were going his way.

* * *

"I don't get it, why would anyone break into my locker?" Elyon said as she looked in her locker and shifted through the contents. "And then just take my hair brush and the notes I took for math class?"

"Someone that has no idea who they are messing with..." Danny mumbled to himself, holding back the angry green from his eyes as he took a closer look. The lock hadn't been cut or pulled off with a crowbar, it seemed to have been twisted until the metal on the door gave way and then just ripped off. Not something a normal Human could do. 'Was it those fairy girls?' Danny thought, glancing in the direction of Cornelia, Irma, Will, and Hay Lin, and seeing them whispering among themselves.

But Danny threw out that idea. He had seen Cornelia using Elyon's locker just the day before. It wouldn't have been necessary for her to break the lock. Maybe he was just misreading everything. Not all of the events in the world had to be linked to the mystic elements.

"It was probably Uriah trying to get back at me for standing up to him. I'll see if I can't find anyone who knows where he was during that time. For now let's put your stuff in my locker. There's plenty of space," Danny said to Elyon, trying to stop her from freaking out from the unexplained theft. Elyon still looked a little shaken. "Hey don't worry about it. This is middle school. These kinds of things happen," Danny said with his usual grin. Elyon nodded gratefully and smiled back as they got to work.

Little did Danny know, but the Guardians had been having a similar conversation. "Do you think Danny did it?" Cornelia said watching as Danny helped Elyon move her stuff.

"Corny, he can move through solid objects, not much point him pulling the lock off the door," Irma said rolling her eyes. "And taking her brush and notebook seems a little creepy."

"Well he is a Ghost," Cornelia pointed out. "Creepy is probably in the job description."

"Cornelia, I don't think being a Ghost is a job," Hay Lin chuckled.

"We don't know if any of this has to do with anything," Will said dragging the discussion to a more logical path. "How about we talk to Hay Lin's grandma and see if she can make heads or tails of it?"

"Sounds good to me..." Irma said happily walking toward the exit but a hand grabbed her collar and pulled her back.

"Oh no you don't. We're going to the newspaper club, remember?" Taranee said as she started to drag the girl towards the club room.

"Help me..." Irma whined as she reached out to the others, but the girls offered her nothing but pitying looks.

"Cornelia?" Cornelia turned to see Elyon walking up to her. "Can we walk home together? I don't really feel conferrable going home alone right now and Danny has to stay after school for his detention," Elyon said rubbing her arms uncomfortably.

"Oh I would... um..." Cornelia said glancing towards Hay Lin and Will who both nodded. "Sure, I'd love to," she said putting an arm around her friend and walking towards the exit.

"Looks like it's just you and me for now," Hay Lin said grinning.

"Might just be better that way," Will mumbled as they started for Yan Lin's restaurant to get some answers.

* * *

There was a rather awkward silence between Elyon and Cornelia as they walked towards Elyon's house. No matter how much Cornelia hated admitting it to herself, the two of them had drifted apart in the last few weeks.

No matter how much she tried to act like she was still the same person she had ever been, Meridian had changed Cornelia. Seeing all of those people suffering, fighting for her life, being forced to join the other girls in order to stay safe. All of those things had changed her.

But there was her best friend looking around as if she expected a monster to jump out at her from the shadows. It was tearing Cornelia up inside to watch it. "Hey Elyon, it's alright. I'm sure it was just some prank or something," Cornelia said in what she could only hope was a convincing voice.

Elyon's shoulders sank and she looked down. "Danny said the same thing," She admitted, not noticing the frustrated look that crossed Cornelia's face at being compared to Danny. "But I don't think he believed it. He had that same look in his eyes that he had when that giant..." Elyon paused as if thinking about her words. "I mean... when that animatronic thing at the carnival went crazy," she finished.

Cornelia felt a little sad that Elyon had felt the need to lie to her about the monster, but she figured that it couldn't be helped. "I guess I'm really just still a little weirded out by what happened there. I didn't manage to get a good night's sleep last night," Elyon admitted weakly.

"That's... understandable," Cornelia said thinking back to when she had first watched the gargoyle dragging Caleb back through the portal when the Guardian's had first gotten their powers. "But hey, everything's going to be alright. And if anything does happen, me and the girls have got your back," Cornelia said pulling Elyon in for a one armed hug.

"Thanks Cornelia," Elyon whispered with a small smile. But what could Cornelia do against monsters? She couldn't even handle normal sized bugs or animals. Her cat was eternally outside of her control.

It was Danny who really made Elyon feel safe. His calm experience mixed with his joking charm made everything feel like a fairy tale. And that in the end, they would all live happily ever after.

Too bad in fairy tales, it always gets worse before it gets better.

* * *

"The Ceremony of the Amalgamation," Yan Lin said, frowning as she sat down with the girls and Caleb around a table in the personal living space in the back of the restaurant, as Blunk crashed on a nearby coach watching TV and eating from a box of popcorn he found in the garbage behind a movie theater.

"Man, Irma's right, everything gets an evil sounding name these days," Will said wincing.

"The Ceremony of the Amalgamation is a ritual that uses symbols of the victim in order to weaken their spiritual resistance against the user," Yan Lin explained. "Hair for body, notes for mind, the final symbol is hardest to get, Phobos must capture her breath."

"If one of his creatures even thinks that he is getting that close to her, just let them try!" Caleb said angrily.

"I'm sure that you will do a great job, Caleb," Hay Lin said, trying not to roll her eyes and the young rebel leader. "But once he has performed the Ceremony of the Amalgamation, it will be as if a part of Elyon is already in Meridian. And her resistance to his emissary's appeals will be weakened."

There was a knock on the back door and Cornelia stepped in. "Hey guys," she said as she plopped down in the seat next to Caleb.

"How's the Princess?" Will asked, seeing the tired look on Cornelia's face that said she wanted to talk about something but didn't want to bring it up.

"Everything that happened with that giant bug has left her terrified," Cornelia reported. "Maybe we should tell her what's going on."

"Oh right, she's scared that monsters exist, so let's tell her that there is an entire world full of them that are targeting her," Will said with a sigh. "I can't imagine that going across well."

Cornelia looked angry for a second but then the look just fell away. "You're probably right on that one," she admitted. Before she would have been angrily protesting about leaving Elyon in the dark, but seeing how scared she was, Cornelia couldn't bring herself to tell her that she was going to be in constant danger.

"Then we are going to need someone to watch her," Hay Lin cut in. "Someone who doesn't go to school, or work, or have anything important to do." They all looked over to Blunk who to his credit immediately realized they were talking about him.

"Blunk do stake out, tale suspect, report HQ, and all for low low fee," Blunk said walking up to them with a happy grin. Hay Lin pulled out some old donuts and tossed them to Blunk. "Oh! Blunk on case!" The Passling said before running off.

"Oh god, just because I said we shouldn't tell her doesn't me I think we should let the wonder toad follow her," Cornelia said wincing.

"Well, it's the best we can do," Will said with a shrug. "Blunk is slippery and won't be spotted, so we only need to worry about is that she might smell him," Will joked. "But Blunk has his job, and we have ours. We need to close whatever portal Phobos's creature used so that he can't return, or if he is still here, then he can't get the symbols to his master," Will said as she pulled out a blank parchment.

She held the Heart of Kandrakar over the paper and it slowly revealed itself to be a map of the city with all the portals marked on it with glowing 'x's. The only one on the map at the moment, was one directly on the school.

"Oh no, another one in the school," Hay Lin said pointing out the 'x'.

"Phobos is shaping the Veil so that all the holes in it are near his sister," Yan Lin said seriously.

"Taranee and Irma are at the school right now," Will said in a moment of realization. Without Will there to use the Heart of Kandrakar on them, the two might as well be defenseless.

"Looks like we're going back to school," Hay Lin said as they picked up the map which was quickly fading back to being a normal piece of paper.

"Did you have to say it like that? Being in school after hours is so uncool," Cornelia said as they left the room, Caleb joining them as they went.

Yan Lin sighed as she went back to work. It always felt wrong to leave the job in the hands of the young girls. But there was no one else that could do it. The fate of the world rested on those girls... and maybe on one other.

* * *

Irma was officially in her own version of hell as the sun slowly started to set outside and yet she was still in school, and in the worst club imaginable. There were two major problems with the school newspaper. First, all the participants were idiots. And second, nothing ever happened at their school. It had to be one of the most boring places on Earth.

"This is really big," one of the two Grumper sisters said in an excited voice, Irma didn't really know which one it was. It wasn't that the red headed twins were identical or anything, they were different in both size and shape. Irma just found that they didn't really have distinct personalities, and since they always moved around together, there wasn't really a point in distinguishing between the two.

"Greger Marando wore her blue plaid skirt 'twice' this week!" The other said before they both squealed as if it was some big scandal.

"Okay... that isn't really a story," Taranee said, her voice not nearly as enthusiastic as it had been when the night had started.

"Just print it and let's go home," Irma begged as her head hit the desk. A large clanging sound come from the halls. "What as that?" Irma asked shortly interested in the slight mental stimulus.

There were more crashing sounds. "Well, Marten said he wasn't coming in until he had a huge story... so he's probably in the cafeteria and that was probably him knocking over all the pans," Taranee said brushing it all off.

But that wasn't entirely true.

Marten was hiding behind the counter underneath the hot plates as he heard something moving around the cafeteria tables. He wasn't the bravest of people, but he was desperate to find something that would impress Irma.

"A good reporter stays calm," Marten mumbled to himself as he tightened his sweaty hands around his camera. After a moment's prayer he jumped out from behind the counter, but there was nothing there. Everything looked absolutely normal.

But then one of the chairs was knocked over several feet, and then another and another in a row as something moved around unseen. Marten freaked and started taking picture after picture until the doors on the other side of the room were knocked open and whatever it was that Marten hadn't been able to see left.

Marten panted for a few seconds before a huge grin crossed his face. "I did it!" He shouted running out of the cafeteria. "I did it, I found the school Ghost!" He shouted not even registering Danny and Matt, who looked confused as he passed them.

"I think Marten might have finally lost it," Matt said sounding a little disappointed.

"Well, we still need to finish up the bathrooms," Danny replied with a shrug as he pushed along the mop cart. Danny raised an eyebrow at the word 'Ghost', but he couldn't sense anything, so he wasn't worried.

"Don't remind me," Matt said with a bit of a shiver. "Still better than the newspaper club though," he joked.

Marten ran into the newspaper club with a victorious grin on his face as he held up his camera. "Exclusive story! School Ghosts! Pictures to come!" He said proudly.

"What, you mean Danny?" Irma asked confused.

Taranee only rolled her eyes. "Marten, that's called air conditioning, it isn't a story," she said, starting to lose her patience with the others.

"Oh no, I saw it this time," Marten said confidently, before adding less confidently. "Well, I saw what it did, or what it had done... oh you'll see!" He said running back out of the room. He was going to go home to do some research on what he hadn't seen.

Irma and Taranee exchanged pitying looks as they went back to the boring meeting.

* * *

Will, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had snuck back into school with Caleb and had found the portal in a storage basement. The large swirling blue and white vortex gave off small electric sparks as air passed back and forth between Earth and Meridian.

"No matter how many times I see them, they still freak me out," Will said as she started to take out the Heart of Kandrakar. The small pink orb had been glowing a warm light pink ever since they had gotten to the school. A steady reminder that Danny was still around somewhere. "Let's just close the portal and get out of here."

Hay Lin and Cornelia nodded in agreement as their leader lifted up the Heart, but just before she closed the portal, Caleb stopped her. "Wait a second!" He shouted quickly as his flashlight shone over a sticky purple substance over in the corner of the room. Caleb kneeled next to it and took some of it in his hand rubbing it between his fingers. "Purple slime... that can only come from one thing; a Hermanuta Beast."

The Guardian's shivered a bit. "I'm afraid to ask," Hay Lin said weakly.

Caleb looked around the room but saw nothing. "Maybe it went back into the portal," ,e said, but then a few mops in the corner of the room exploded outwards and fell to the ground, startling everyone there. More things got knocked over and more purple slime appeared on objects in a trail that was moving through the clutter on the ground. "Or maybe not."

Suddenly Will felt like something had hit her head and she fell to the ground in a heap. "Will!" Hay Lin cried, checking on her friend.

"I... I didn't see anything," Will said rubbing her head and pulling her hand away in disgust as she found it covered in the purple slime.

"When it's upset it becomes invisible. Don't move," Caleb said calmly as he motioned for the others to stay still. Slowly a large boar like creature, the size of a full grown Labrador, came into the visible spectrum in the corner of the room. Its eyes were up on the end of tentacles, just like a snail's. Large quantities of purple slime poured from an open mouth that held two thick tusks near the back of its mouth.

"That's what did all this?" Cornelia said in disbelief. She was used to Meridian monsters being a lot bigger.

"It's a juvenal," Caleb assured her as he scratched his head.

"Oh can we keep it?" Hay Lin said smiling as she looked at the thing.

One of Cornelia's eyes twitched at the bad suggestion. "Oh sure, we can be the Guardian of the Veil, AND WATCH AFTER A WILD SLIMY INVISIBLE PIG!" She shouted angrily.

This turned out to be a bad move as the Hurmanuta Beast jumped and turned invisible again before ramming into Hay Lin and dragged her half way across the basement before knocking her against the far wall were she slid to the ground in a puddle of the purple slime.

"Oh... bad pig." Hay Lin moaned.

Will pulled the Heart of Kandrakar out again. "Guardian's Unite." She said and the ethereal lights gathered around the three girls, changing them into their guardian forms.

A trail made by the slime from the pig's mouth showed that it was running straight at Caleb, so Cornelia used her powers over earth to move bricks from the wall to make a shield in front of Caleb, which the invisible pig smashed into, knocking it down.

"Well this is fun. We need to surround it so we can move it towards the portal," Will instructed the other two guardians.

But before they could do anything the bricks were knocked about and Caleb was pulled off his feet and was being dragged about. "He's got my leg!" Caleb shouted as he struggled with the unseen menace.

"Leave him alone!" Cornelia shouted, grabbing onto Caleb's arm with Will and trying to drag him free, but it was no good, the pig had a death hold on the boy's leg.

Hay Lin watched for a few seconds before using her powers over air to make a miniature cyclone in the middle of the basement. Caleb and the girls were lifted off the ground and spun around in it as Hay Lin had fun.

"Wait, stop!" Caleb shouted. "It's gone!" Hay Lin stopped in surprise and they all fell to the ground.

Hearing a snorting sound they all looked to the stairs to see the pig for a few seconds before it turned invisible again. "After it!" Will shouted as they flew up the stairs. But their hearts sank as the double doors to the basement were knocked upon and something they couldn't see got out. "Oh great, who left the door unlocked?"

As they moved out of the basement they could see that all the walls were covered in the pig's purple slime. "Just great," Will said angrily as she transformed them all back into their normal forms.

"We'll have to find Irma and Taranee and see if we can't..." Hay Lin started but stopped as they heard two voice getting closer.

"Thank goodness we are finally done," Danny's voice said.

"You're telling me. I've got to get home before my parents flip. I never exactly told them about the detention," Matt's voice answered. "I have new found respect for that grouchy old Mrs. Filch."

"Clearly not much if you're still calling her 'grouchy old'," Danny laughed.

"Well whatever, all we have to do now is put the... stuff... away..." Matt's voice fell off as they turned the corner and saw the halls covered in slime. "Son of a..." He started but then he noticed Will standing there. "Oh, hey Will," he said cheerfully. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, we were just... uh... going to see Irma and Taranee. They said they needed some help with something," Hay Lin said since Will was too flushed to answer.

"The school hallway is covered in slime... I must be back in Amity Park again," Danny sighed as he inspected the mess.

"Better get to work then," Matt said as he pulled out a mop.

"We'll help," Will said grabbing a rag herself, quickly followed by Hay Lin and Caleb.

"We will?" Cornelia winced as she looked at all the slime. But soon she too joined in.

It was several hours before they managed to clean it all up. And they were all too tired to do anything more than just go home.

Will, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had all gained a new found hatred for pigs.

* * *

Annoyed. It was the word that Danny had decided on as he sat through what had to be the worst joke he had ever heard.

"So there I was, Ghosts to my left, Ghosts to my right! I fought! But I was out numbered..." Martin had for some reason gotten up in their world geography class and started blabbering on about Ghosts. Not that this was anything new to Danny, but the boy didn't know the first thing about Ghosts and his story was completely made up.

Danny was trying to concentrate on his own finger tapping against his desk in order to drown out the nerd's ramblings, but he was finding it more and more difficult by the second.

He didn't realize that the girls of WITCH were watching his reaction.

"Wow, he looks really mad," Hay Lin whispered to Will. "I think he might try to haunt Martin just out of spite."

"As fitting as that would be, I'm more worried about the Humpa... whatever it was called... the pig thing," Will said quietly as the teacher finally told Martin to shut up and get back to his seat. "Caleb watched the school all night but couldn't find any sign of it."

"Well, maybe it needed to sleep. It is just a juvenile, right? Even a crazy destructo pig needs to a nap every once and a while," Hay Lin suggested. No sooner has she finished than they heard a loud racket in the hallway.

"Looks like baby's waking up," Will groaned. Several people went to the halls to see purple slime splattered everywhere.

"Oh Ectoplasm!" Martin said excitedly before running off with camera in hand, only slowing down enough to shout back over his shoulder. "Sorry teacher! Class takes a back seat to the people's right to know the Truth!"

Everyone watched him go, some shaking their heads, others laughing. But none of them believing him.

"Moron," Danny mumbled. "He wouldn't know a Ghost if it was sitting right in front of him." Hay Lin heard him and began to giggle at the irony.

* * *

The girls sat huddled around the lunch table discussing the problem at hand. More and more 'sightings' of the invisible pig were spreading across the school as the day continued, but ironically enough, the fact that Martin was claiming it was Ghosts was decreasing peoples' belief that anything weird was really going on. Even the people who had been directly hit by the pig didn't believe in it.

"So far Martin has nothing, and what he says people don't believe," Irma reported with a small smirk.

"We're lucky he's so unpopular," Hay Lin said, shrugging as a few people nearby could be heard laughing about it.

"We've got to get that... pig... back home, but we can't let anyone see us do it as WITCH," Will said as she tried to come up with a plan.

But before she could think of anything, Martin came by and boldly sat down next to Irma who moved as far away from him as she could without leaving her seat. "Hey Honey, would you like me to tell you about my fight with the Ghosts?" Martin said in what he must have believed was a cool voice.

"I think I would rather jump off a building," Irma said rolling her eyes. "We all know you're full of it, Martin."

"What? No... there really was a Ghost! I saw it... well I didn't see it see it but..." Martin started to ramble.

"Oh sure, and it threw a desk at you, while you were in the cafeteria," Irma said sarcastically. "Just get lost Martin. There are no Ghosts at this school," Irma said, before remembering Danny. "Well, at least you don't know anything about Ghosts."

"What but I... oh... you'll see!" He shouted getting up. "I'm going to find that Ghost, even if I have to stake out this joint, day and night!" He said, running off to do who knows what.

Irma rolled her eyes and turned back to the group who were glaring at her. "What?" She said with an innocent shrug.

"Great, how could this get worse?" Will said, her forehead hitting the table.

* * *

"Danny, is there a... you know. A Ghost at this school?" Elyon asked Danny at a different lunch table a few feet away from the other girls.

"Martin didn't see a Ghost. He's full of it," Danny said sounding sure of himself. He wasn't going to lie and say that there was no Ghost, but he knew that there wasn't any other than himself.

"But, what about all that ectoplasm stuff?" Elyon asked seeming a little worried.

"Oh that," Danny said pulling out a small baggy of the purple stuff. "It isn't ectoplasm. Ectoplasm has a very distinct smell because of its high nickel content, this stuff is just a type of mucus. Kind of like the phlegm that sometimes builds up in the back of your throat. Somebody probably just found instructions for making the stuff on the Internet and mixed in purple dye. This is all just one big prank."

"So, you're saying that this is all just one big act that Martin is putting on to try to get attention?" Elyon asked suddenly looking a little angry about having been freaked out.

"Most likely. The guy knows nothing about Ghosts. I'm actually feeling a little insulted," Danny said leaning back. Then Danny laughed. "I almost wish that a real Ghost would show up to scare him. It would serve him right."

"Thank goodness," Elyon said with a sigh.

Danny looked a little sadly towards her. "Don't worry. If anything did come snooping around. I'd protect you," He said a little embarrassed.

Elyon smiled. "Thanks Danny."

* * *

"Guys we need to get that portal closed. That's our job as Guardians," Will said when they had all gathered at the Silver Dragon.

"Not until we get the Hurmanuta Beast back in," Caleb interjected.

"Then we have to do it tonight. It's time for WITCH," Hay Lin said grinning, more than a little eager for action.

"Are you forgetting, Martin is camping out there all night to try to impress Irma," Taranee said rolling her eyes.

"Oh, and he's stubborn, nothing could get him to leave," Hay Lin grumbled as she sat back down.

"I can think of one thing that might," Cornelia said grinning at Irma from the corner of her eye. And Irma didn't like the look.

* * *

Danny had finally arrived home after having dinner with Elyon and escorting her home. He was prepared to just go up to his room and do his homework before turning in for the night, but he was stopped at the door when his father ran up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Is it true!? Is there really a Ghost at your school!?" Jack shouted happily as he shook Danny back and forth.

"What? How could you have already heard about that?" Danny asked confused.

"Then it is true!" Jack shouted for joy. "Come on Danny-boy! We're going hunting!" Jack shouted as he practically carried Danny to the family Ghost assault vehicle.

Danny tried to explain to him that there was no Ghost, but his words fell on deaf ears. That night, the Fenton boys were going hunting. Whether Danny wanted to or not.

* * *

"No I won't do it! You can't make me!" Irma whined as they all worked together to drag her towards the computer room after school hours where Martin had set up camp.

"You say that, but you are already dressed up," Hay Lin pointed out. Irma was dressed in a nice but still casual red tank top with a nice jacket over it that was borrowed from Cornelia and a pair of tight jeans.

"You guys can't be serious. I'm not going to go on a date with Martin. It's too much. I don't care if it is in the name of being a Guardian of the Veil. He is an obnoxious creepy dork," Irma said. But Will and Cornelia had hooked their arms under hers and were attempting to carry her.

"Irma we need you to do this. Don't forget it is your fault that Martin is even here," Taranee said crossing her arms.

"No, it is your fault for giving him that inspirational journalist speech! If it wasn't for that he wouldn't have ran into the stupid pig in the first place!" Irma snapped at the Fire Guardian. She really didn't want to be forced to date Martin, if it was anyone but Martin she would have considered it, but not him.

It wasn't just that she didn't like nerds or people with glasses or anything so shallow. It was that he was a creeper who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Persistence is one thing, but stalking is another. And he was extremely public about it, at times making her look like the bad guy in her frustrated rejections.

"You might want to keep it down a few decibels if you don't want him to find out that we are all here," Caleb said a little worried. But no sooner had he said that then the computer room door opened and Martin's head stuck out of it with a camera.

"Where's the ghost?" He said looking around before spotting the girls. "Oh... Hello there ladies, what can I do you for," He said, giving off a little snorting sound. Irma winced as the embodiment of the 'forever alone' stereotype looked at her. "Aren't we looking lovely tonight? And by we, I mean you."

Irma couldn't go through with it. So she quickly decided to shoot everything down before the other girls even try to set it in motion. Screw the fate of the world, she would not have Martin going around saying that she was his girlfriend because of some stupid slimy pig.

"We came here to tell you to go home, Martin, and to stop wasting everyone's time." Irma said angrily as Will tried to elbow her in the gut, but she pressed on. Best to use oil while trying to burn down bridges. "There is no such thing as Ghosts. And no matter what happens you won't be able to force us to put up a story about it."

Martin looked like he had been slapped, but then a grin spread across his features. "No, Ghosts do exist. I can prove it!" He said moving back into the computer lab. The girls could hear several key strokes from their position outside of the room.

But before they could move the Heart of Kandrakar began to flare a light pink. "Oh no," Cornelia said as she saw Will trying to silence the accessory.

"Guess there really is a Ghost here now," Hay Lin said glancing around.

"Great, even more problems," Irma huffed. "As if getting rid of Martin wasn't going to be hard enough."

"I don't know. Do we have to worry about Danny seeing anything?" Caleb asked.

Before the argument over whether or not to trust Danny could break out again, Martin's voice came from inside of the computer lab. "Found it!" He snorted.

The girls looked at each other and shrugged before entering the room. Martin was sitting in front of one of the computers with a smug expression on his face as a Youtube video played.

The girls looked over his shoulder to watch the video.

It was being shot from first person by a man who was finding it very hard to hold the camera steady and in the shot were five large green skeleton monsters that were tearing up everything in arm's reach; shattering windows, flipping cars, uprooting street laps, etc.

"Holy shit, are you getting this?" Someone said from off screen and the camera bobbed slightly as if the person using it was nodding. Two of the skeletons seemed to have spotted the people with the camera and were moving in on them.

"Martin, this is just a clip from a poorly directed first person movie, like 'Clover Field' with worse graphics. Those aren't..." Will started but stopped as a wave of green energy basted one of the skeletons apart and a black and white blur flew in and kicked the remaining skeleton in the head, knocking its skull from its shoulders. The skeleton stumbled about as if trying to find its head until a second green ray shattered it as well.

The camera moved to show a young boy around their age in a black jumpsuit that radiated a faint white glow. He wore white gloves and boots and a white symbol on his chest that looked a bit like a 'D', his hair was a bleached white, and his vivid green eyes were looking towards the people with the camera. "It isn't safe here. You need to move," The boy said in a voice that seemed to echo around.

"Al... alright!" The man said, and the clip ended there.

"Will... is that Da..?" Hay Lin stopped mid question as Taranee gave her a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"This isn't just a clip from a movie. This is real proof of ghosts. And there is a lot of it," Martin said pulling up a list of over a hundred clips and images. "There is no mention of it on the commercial media, but it is all over the social network. They call him, 'the Amity Park Phantom'."

"As much of food for thought as that seems, there still is nothing going on at this school beyond just some prank," Irma said as soon as she recovered. "There are no Ghosts."

Suddenly the door was kicked hard enough to snap it off its hinges and sending it to the floor. Martin gave a girlish scream as a huge orange humanoid creature stepped through the door frame, having to duck to not hit its head. It straightened to a height of at least seven feet tall and towered over the room's shocked inhabitants. Caleb tried to punch the creature but it caught the fist in one if its enormous hands. Then it took a deep breath. "Did someone say GHOSTS!" It shouted loudly.

The lights in the room flicked on to revel that it was just a really tall man in an orange jumpsuit with a giant metal bazooka thrown over one shoulder. "That was a good punch. But you are going to need to do better than that if you want to be a real Ghost hunter, like me, JACK FENTON, the world's greatest Ghost Hunter!"

"Wha... what the heck is that thing!" Cornelia stammered as she backed away from the man. "His clothes are hideous."

"Oh wow, a real ghost hunter!" Martin snorted happily.

"Did he say Fenton?" Taranee pointed out.

"Dad, you're scaring them," they all turned to see Danny by the light switch looking at them all with a surprised expression, as if he hadn't expected to see them there.

"Nonsense, a Ghost Hunter isn't afraid of anything, other than your Aunt's pies," Jack said with a wide grin as he let go of Caleb's arm, leaving the rebel boy to try to shake some feeling back into it. "That's why you are all here right? To hunt GHOSTS!"

"Yessirrie," Martin said trying to stand at attention. The others were still trying to get over the orange rampaging grizzly bear that had just entered the room.

"Great!" Jack boomed then noticed the computer with the images of Phantom still up on the monitor. "I see you are already researching your enemy. Good, never forget that face. The Ghostboy," Jack said, the girls were shocked to hear the genuine hatred in the man's voice. "Some thought he was some kind of hero, but don't let them fool you. There is no such thing as a good ghost. They are all manipulative and evil creatures which kill you and rip off your faces!" He shouted angrily. "My one regret in life is never having captured that piece of ectoplasmic scum so that I could rip him apart molecule by molecule!" Will glanced over at Danny to see him looking away in shame, an expression of hurt edged into his face.

"Um... Mr. Fenton..." Taranee tried to interrupt him.

"Please, call me Jack," Jack said proudly.

"Sorry sir, but there are no Ghosts here and you really need to leave," Taranee said hoping that he would just go. There wasn't much the girls could do to force someone like him out the door without using their powers.

"I'll be the judge of..." Jack started but Danny cut him off.

"Dad," He said getting his father's attention. "You want to go back home to get the Ghost Detector. There is nothing more important to you right now than doing that." Danny's voice had a hypnotic tone to it as he forced eye contract with his father. "You are going to leave me here to look after things as you get it."

Jack had a dazed look but then shouted. "Danny! I need to go back to Fenton Works to get the Fenton Ghost Detector. Hold down the fort until I get back!" He said before running out the door.

"What just..." Martin started until Danny made eye contact with him.

"Martin, you want to go with him to get an interview for your article," Danny said forcefully.

"I... I want to go with Jack to get an interview from him for the newspaper," Martin said in a dreary tone.

Martin just stood there for a few seconds till Danny said. "Are you going or not?" To which Martin jumped and dashed out of the room after Jack.

"Oh... what just happened?" Taranee asked confused.

"I used hypnotic suggestion to get them to leave. I'm guessing that if you all are here then you have a good reason to believe that this isn't all just an elaborate prank," Danny stated, looking at them with eyes that were still more than a little sad. "You don't want people to see you running around as Fairies do you?"

"Well, no but..." Cornelia said scratching her head.

"They won't be coming back. My sister destroyed the Ghost detector a long time ago. And my dad could blabber on about Ghosts for days," Danny said sitting down. "So what is really going on here?"

"There is a hole to another world underneath the school and an invisible pig that drools purple slime came through and we need to send it back before shutting the portal," Hay Lin said quickly before anyone could stop her.

"Hay Lin, you weren't supposed to tell him that," Taranee said, glaring at the air guardian.

"But he could help," Will countered.

"But we don't know if we can trust him," Cornelia said turning to Irma. "Come on Irma say something."

"Ok, thank you for getting rid of Martin with your Jedi mind powers," Irma said grinning.

"Irma!" Taranee said putting a hand to her forehead.

"What? We needed Martin gone and he did it. I'm grateful," Irma said shrugging. "It's not like I suddenly trust him."

"We don't need to tell him anything. He just has to help us capture the Hurmanuta Beast and send it back to Meridian," Caleb added his own two cents.

"You do realize I'm sitting right here," Danny said, a little annoyed that they were talking about him like he wasn't even there.

"We're wasting time," Will said pulling out the Heart of Kandrakar which was burning like a small star. "Guardian's unite," she said. The orbs of light appeared around the five girls and turned them into their Guardian forms. "We'll split up to find the... pig thing. Hay Lin, you're with Irma, Caleb and Taranee will be with Cornelia and I'll search with Danny," Will said with finality.

"What!? You can't be serious!" Cornelia said angrily.

"I thought we all agreed to stop treating Danny like he was a monster. So I am going to. If you don't like it, tough," Will said. The two Guardians glared at each other until Will just walked straight up to Danny, grabbed his arm and dragged him out with her. The boy too confused to react.

"So much for unity," Hay Lin sighed, sounding a bit like her grandmother.

* * *

Danny kept a few feet between himself and Will as they moved through the hallways of the school at night searching for the invisible pig. Pent up frustration was quite literally flowing off of the girl in waves.

Danny was personally shocked that he hadn't noticed that she had powers when they had first met. She had no self-control and her mystic energies picked up her emotions and broadcasted them to everyone and everything that could sense them.

"You sure it was okay to do that?" Danny asked curiously, "They are your friends after all."

"It's fine!" Will snapped as she marched along and into the art room to check for anything have been disturbed.

"Yeesh, sorry I asked," Danny said backing up a little more as the girl's emotions flared.

But the fires of frustration started to die down into a regretful draft. "Sorry," she murmured.

"Hey, you're just worked up about what's going on. Can't blame you for that. Happens to the best of us," Danny said with a shrug, before he stopped at a water painting of what looked like a man with a banana for a head eating peanuts. "I never did understand art."

"That isn't what I... I mean. I'm sorry for how we treated you and... you know... attacked you and all," Will said awkwardly.

Danny laughed a bit. "You clearly don't know much about Ghosts if you think that I would take offense to something like that. Out of the hundreds of Ghosts I have met, it would be easier to list off the ones who didn't attack me at first. Pandora... alright I'm done listing them off now," He joked.

"What!? But I thought you were supposed to be the Ghost King," Will said, her eyes widening in surprise.

"The title of 'Ghost King' doesn't really mean much other than you are the most powerful guy around," Danny said, shrugging as he made to leave the room, "It isn't like I have subjects or anything. If I wanted a Ghost to do something for me, I would have to force him to. They tend to not care about anything but their own obsessions."

"So, are most Ghosts evil then?" Will asked, she didn't want to insult Danny, but she didn't know a thing about Ghosts.

"That is a hard questions to answer. I wouldn't exactly say that they fit into the model of good or evil," Danny said, scratching his head, "I would say that they are all under the category of 'it depends'."

"Could you possibly be more vague there?" Will said, a little bit of her frustration returning to her aura.

"Calm down," Danny chuckled waving the girl down as he tried to think of what to say. "How to put this... Alright, think of a Ghost as like a rain cloud. The cloud will make rain because it is simply its nature and nothing will change its mind from doing it. If you were in the middle of a drought, then the rain cloud would be considered good. But on the other hand, if it was your wedding day then you would probably hate that stupid jerk for raining on your parade. Of course, not all Ghosts are as simple as a rain cloud, and there are very few instances were a hurricane is a good thing. But there are Ghosts that just want to be left alone. You just never see them."

"Every Ghost has its obsession. A purpose which it will fulfill regardless of the consequences. So a Ghost who is obsessed with hunting will hunt no matter how bad things turn out because of it. He might hunt down and kill a dangerous beast that was threatening people's lives, or he might hunt an endangered species to extinction. To the Ghosts, it isn't a moral choice, it's just existence. That's why there is no real Ghost King. Even if laws and social contracts were established, no Ghost would follow them. That's why the Ghost Zone is in a constant state of chaos," Danny finished explaining.

"Is that it?" Will said, as she looked away and into one of the science lab rooms. She was having a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Not good or evil, just existence. But then she remembered the question that she really wanted to ask. "What's a Halfa?"

Danny froze mid step. "Where did you hear that word?" Danny asked.

"I... I just heard it in a vision. Is that a problem?" Will asked a little defensively.

Danny didn't answer for a moment, as if thinking whether or not it was a problem. "No... not really," he finally said, before continuing as if nothing had happened. "A Halfa is a Human who is bathed in the essence of the Ghost Zone and because something akin to a Ghost themselves."

"So... you're Human then?" Will said. It was more of a statement than a question. "That explains why you go to school. I doubt even the Ghosts would be caught dead in a place like this."

"You'd be surprised," Danny chuckled. "Many Ghosts find themselves bound to schools. After all, it is a place of misery and regret. Not to mention the worst food on the planet. I hardly noticed when they replaced the mystery meat with actual mud."

"Oh the burdens of the teenage years," Will said, rolling her eyes a bit. "So when did you get your powers?"

"When I died of course," Danny said, as they moved into the cafeteria. "It was a bit over a year ago. I was caught in an artificial portal and drowned in Ghost energy as I was electrocuted literally half to death." Will winced at the description. "What about you? How long have you and the other girls been Fairies? I'd say a month, maybe two, that's how long it took for the general population in Amity Park to start to admit to themselves that something was up, at the end of the second month."

"Fairies? Is that what you think we are?" Will said with a raised eyebrow.

"It isn't like I have any better explanation. I know you are carrying around a Mystic Heart, but I don't really know much about Earth's Mystic Heart," Danny said. He couldn't see her, since she was standing behind him, but he noticed Will's energy react to him stating that she had a mystic heart. "I suppose it's possible that it isn't Earth's and you are some kind of alien from another dimension, but as you already pointed out, even Ghosts wouldn't be caught dead in school."

"I didn't realize you knew we had a Heart," Will said, deciding not to contradict him on what Heart it was.

"You hit me in the forehead with it back in the alleyway, remember? And you just used it earlier today to transform, or whatever it is that you did," Danny laughed. "Kind of hard to overlook. It does glow pink."

"Well we aren't Fairies." Will snapped, trying to get away from the subject of the heart. "We are the Guardians of the Veil."

"Really? And you've had that job for how long?" Danny asked curiously. He was a bit surprised to hear the word Veil, but resigned himself to the fact that she wasn't talking about the Veil he had created around the Ghost Zone. It wouldn't be a stretch to believe that there were other Veils in existence.

"... about a month," Will admitted weakly.

"No wonder you can hardly fight," Danny mumbled, ticking Will off a little.

"Oh yeah well..." Will started but Danny clapped a hand over her mouth. She struggled and finally managed to pull it off before glaring at him. "What was that for?"

"The pig," Danny said pointing towards a spot in the corner of the room. Will squinted but couldn't see anything.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing there," Will said.

Danny sighed. "Don't tell me you can't even see Aether. You really are new at all this," he mumbled, very aware of how annoyed he was making her, but getting a strange kick out of messing with her. "Alright, most of the most basic mystic abilities are self-guided. All you need to do is know the theory behind them and then you can do it. So just follow my instructions." Will glared at him, feeling the Heart of Kandrakar burning with indignation, but she nodded. "Aether is the basis of spirit that all beings have. People with mystical powers have an unusually large amount of it. So if you can see the Aether, you can see any creature, even if it is invisible. It is a basic skill for anyone who ever expects to fight on even footing with a Ghost."

"Alright, so how do I do it?" Will asked getting impatient. She half believed that Danny was just messing with her and that the pig wasn't there.

"It's simple, Aether reacts to mystical energy, just gather energy like you would for one of those pink beams and focus the energy like a lens over your eyes," Danny instructed. "That's it, that's all it takes."

Will frowned. She had never held onto the energy she had gotten from the Heart before, just used it like an energy beam or made a short trail of the stuff to act as a small shield. But she wasn't about to admit that. So she closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling the warm energy moving around behind her eyelids. When she opened them again, the brown of her eyes had turned to a swirling pink and the world seemed to be bursting with a new kind of focus.

She stumbled but Danny caught her. "Suppose I should have told you to sit down first. It is a little disorienting the first few times but it will soon become natural to you. Just like flying must have been," Danny said. Will could only think back to her first attempt at flying. It had ended up horribly, but later the next day it had felt so natural for her to be in the skies. "Now try looking," Danny said, pointing towards the same spot as before.

Will looked over and gasped as she saw the faded purple outline of the pig thing.

"So now the blind girl sees. I must be a miracle worker," Danny joked as Will tried to cover up her shock.

"Ha ha, very funny. Let's just hurry up and catch it before it notices us," Will said taking to the air, but she was pulled back by a hand around her ankle.

"Hold on there, you don't need to be so gung ho about it. He's just a little animal, not a violent beast," Danny said calmly as he walked forward straight to the invisible pig.

The pig tensed as if it was going to run, but then Will saw silvery blue wisps came off of Danny move towards the pig. It was Danny's own Aether, moving off of him by his own will. Will didn't know how she knew that, but she knew. The moment the tendrils of Aether energy touched the pig it immediately calmed down.

Danny reached out and started to pat the creatures head as it returned to the visible spectrum. "How did you do that?" Will asked confused.

Danny grinned. "Aether is the essence of spirit, it can carry emotions in it. I just used my own emotions to calm this little guy down," Danny said. Then he winced as he noticed all of the purple drool getting all over his pants. He lifted a slime covered hand and attempted to shake the stuff off. "Oh man. It's Cujo all over again. Only less cute." Will laughed at his expense, but secretly she was envious. Danny had so much experience over her that it was embarrassing. She couldn't help but think that they were insane to have ever believed that they could fight him and win.

"Hey Danny... would you consider... I mean, if it isn't too much trouble..." Will was struggling to find the words she wanted when an explosion sounded from the halls and knocked the question out of her mind.

The slime pig squealed and jumped up before running out the cafeteria door, turning invisible as it went.

Only one question occupied Will's mind at that moment. "What now?"

* * *

Cornelia was mad. She couldn't accept that Will had just openly blown off any of their opinions and ran off to search the school alongside a creature that could steal the power of the Heart of Kandrakar and leave them all powerless.

"I can't believe her. She's acting more like a spoiled brat than a leader. All because she was the one that Yan Lin gave the Heart doesn't mean she can do whatever she wants," Cornelia grumbled as she stomped through the halls, not even remembering what she was even there for.

"Cornelia, can you please slow down, we're supposed to be looking for the Hurmanuta Beast," Taranee said, trying to calm her down without arguing with her. "The sooner we find it, the sooner we can get back together and go home."

Cornelia was about the start yelling at the Fire Guardian when they all heard several low heavy thuds along with the sound of books hitting the floor. It was coming from the library. "At least it wasn't hard to find," Caleb said as they moved to the Library's double doors.

As they pushed the doors open they found that the whole room was a wreck. Several bookcases had been pushed over and there was very little of the carpeted floor that wasn't covered in purple slime. "Oh, why did it have to be the library," Taranee pouted as they moved into the room, the girls taking to the air to avoid stepping in the slime.

"How did that little pig do all of this?" Cornelia asked, temporarily forgetting her frustration with her leader to her disgust at all the slime.

"I don't know. This seems like a lot of damage for just a juvenal," Caleb admitted as he walked around some crushed tables.

But then Caleb slipped on a puddle of slime and skidded across the floor before hitting something invisible. "Huh, what the..." Caleb said to himself as he got up to his feet and started to pat at the air in front of him. He paled. "This isn't the baby," he said as he quickly backed away. The girls gasped as large hoof prints appeared in the slime in front of Caleb and the air shimmered to revel a massive pig twice the size of a large rhino, with the same bobbing eyes on the end of gooey tendrils and purple mucus as the baby from the night before. "It's the mother."

The Hurmanuta Beast squealed at the teens, sending purple goo flying all over them as it showed off two massive tusks. It started to charge. "Caleb!" Cornelia shouted as she waved her arm to move the scattered pieces of table in between Caleb and the rampaging beast.

It hardly slowed the creature down, but it did give Caleb enough time to move out of the way. "Let's get out of here!" Taranee shouted and the three head to the doors rushing out of the room. But the Hurmanuta Beast wasn't about to give up that easily. It rammed the double doors, smashing them off their hinges and then ran through the hallway towards the girls and rebel leader.

"Leave us alone," Cornelia cried trying to move the floor tiles to discourage the thing, but only succeeding in getting it to stumble and run into a wall smashing the plaster covering off of a support beam before it continued its chase.

"Go away!" Taranee shouted throwing fireballs at the beast, but they simple bounced off of the things thick skin and hit the ground with small explosions.

"Corny, Taranee, what's with the noise... holy pigs!" Irma shouted as she turned the corner with Hay Lin and saw the giant chasing their friends.

"Don't just stand there! Help!" Cornelia cried.

"Right," Hay Lin said as Irma began to cover the floor with water. Taranee and Cornelia grabbed onto Caleb's arms and lifted him over the wet spot. Then when the pig got to it, Hay Lin let out a gust of wind that spun the creature around causing it to skid along the wet surface and ram into a trophy case, dislodging a large cup that landed over the things eyes. Irma and Hay Lin couldn't help but laugh at it until it shock the cup off its head and screamed in rage.

"Doesn't this thing ever give up?" Taranee whined as they all had to dodge its next charge.

"What the heck is going on!? We had just got the pig and then you all..." Will shouted as she came from the cafeteria but stopped as she saw the full grown Hurmanuta Beast. "Holy pig!"

"Hey, I already used that joke, make your own!" Irma shouted to their leader.

Will tried to shoot a ray of energy from the Heart of Kandrakar, but it had no effect on the massive creature other than upsetting its lidless eyes.

The Hurmanuta Beast screamed and rushed Will who dived out of the way but ended up being hit when the pig swung its head, knocking her against the wall. "Will!" The other girls shouted.

The creature turned its attention towards the girl preparing to change but was distracted when it was hit in one of its eyes by a hand full of purple slime.

"Here piggy piggy piggy," Danny chuckled as he stood in the middle of the doorway to the cafeteria, still in his Human form. The pig growled and turned towards the boy, stamping on the ground. "Will, here is your next lesson, so watch carefully," Danny instructed the red haired guardian. "Using your Aether, as a weapon."

Will watched as Danny pushed his hands into his pockets and closed his eyes. Using her newly discovered vision, she watched as dark green Aether gathered around his body.

The pig squealed and rushed towards Danny who didn't even move. Danny's eyes opened, flashing a venomous green and Will saw a massive wave of the dark green Aether push out of the Ring of Rage and cover the Hurmanuta Beast's body.

The beast slowed as it moved towards Danny. Its eyes began to sway on the ends of their tendrils before falling to either side of its face. The creature's knees buckled and it fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Did... did you just kill it with a look?" Irma asked, a mixture of impressed and terrified.

Danny just laughed. "No, she only fainted. She'll wake up in a while," Danny said sounding a little emotionless. "I overwhelmed her with fear so that she fainted from shock. It's nothing fatal."

Danny walked over to a point close to the creature's side and bending down. "It's alright little guy. Your mother will be fine," He said gently. All the girls other than Will were shocked at the baby Hurmanuta Beast returned to the visible spectrum right next to its mother.

An awkward moment passed before Will finally broke the silence. "So, are going to just wait for the big mamma to wake up, or are we going to get it back into the portal? I'd like to go home tonight," Will said crossing her arms.

* * *

Danny had transformed in order to carry the giant pig creature to the blue and white portal, the smaller Hurmanuta Beast following its mother. Once they were both through Will used the Heart of Kandrakar to close the portal.

She turned to see Danny heading out of the basement but called out to him. "Hey, wait a minute!" she shouted causing in to turn back to the group. "I... I just wanted to say thanks for helping us out," she said a little awkwardly.

"Don't mention it, I had hard times when I was first starting out," Danny said with a shrug. "I assume you will tell me what's going on when you're ready. Just try not to attack me again," he said before turning off and disappearing from sight. Will seeing his outline as he flew through the air and out of the room.

* * *

Will detransformed the girls as they walked out of the basement. "Is anyone else hungry?" Hay Lin asked, seemingly unaware that they were walking through a field of purple goo. "I'm just saying because we didn't have any dinner."

Cornelia growled. "I just want to go home and take a nice long bath."

"I just want to forget that this ever happened," Taranee sighed. "but my readers won't when they see all this." They all looked at the damages from the mother's rampage.

They were all complaining. Everyone but Will. "Hey Will, you in there?" Irma said tapping on Will's forehead with one finger.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just have some things on my mind," Will said before turning away from the group. "Let's all just head home. There isn't much we can do here now," she said, getting several sounds of agreement as she left.

Will split off from the rest of the group on the walk home and was alone in relative silence. She was thinking about Danny. His experience that far outmatched their own, and she could only think one thing. 'What else could he teach me?'

As much as she hated to admit it, beyond awakening the other girl's powers, she was the weakest fighter, and the team's biggest liability. She didn't have the power to generate earthquakes or the call up a flood to wash away the bad guys or a tornado to blow them away. The blasts of energy she could throw had about as much affect as flinging rocks and her shields were tiny and couldn't withstand a strong hit.

"Will?" Will was dragged out of her thought and looked to see Matt standing on an open doorway.

"Matt... what are you doing here?" Will asked, suddenly back to being the shy girl.

"My grandpa's store, remember," Matt said pointing up at the pet store sign above him. Loud yapping was coming from inside the store.

"Matt, get back in here, I need a hand!" someone who could only be Matt's grandpa shouted from inside the store.

"Sorry, I can't talk," Matt said moving back into the store. Will waited a second before following him in. The animals were going crazy and a large shaggy dog was on a table struggling against Matt and his grandpa, a kindly looking old man with graying hair that was thinning at the top.

"Calm down boy, they are just shots, they will only take a moment," Matt's grandpa said as he struggled with the dog.

Will thought back to what Danny said about using Aether to calm down animals. 'If Danny could do it, does that mean I can?' She wondered as she stepped forward and placed a hand on the dog's head. "It's alright, you don't need to worry," Will said calmly. If anyone could have seen the girl's Aether, they would see massive waves of warm pink light dancing about the girl's body.

The dog calmed down almost instantly and all the other animals stopped making noise as well. Matt stared at Will slack jawed, unable to explain what he was feeling. She looked the same as she always had, but for some reason she seemed radiant in the dimly light room.

A few moments later Matt's grandpa had given the dog its shots and turned to her. "You sure have a way with animals young Missy," he said grinning.

"Yeah... you were amazing," Matt said, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"Th... thanks," Will said, blushing and pushing a bit of hair out of her face. Matt's grandfather seemed astatic that she knew his grandson and offered Will a part time job.

Will agreed and left the store grinning. She had done it. She had managed to copy Danny's method of calming animals. And that is what sealed it for her. She didn't care what the other girls would think about it. She wouldn't even ask them. She was going to ask Danny to train her.


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

 **Edited by Xbox432**

* * *

The world of order, Kandrakar, its pure pearly white palace floating within a forever golden sky. It was the centerpiece of the universe, charged with guarding the balance of all worlds. Lead by the immortal spirits of only the most pure beings, the Counsel.

It was within this divine fortress that the Oracle spent his existence, watching as the events of Fate unfolded before him, but never working against it. The Oracle's appearance was odd, but had a very simple feel to it. He was bald with a few stubbles of white hair on his chin and the symbol of Kandrakar tattooed on either side of his head, just behind his ears. Despite his age he looked as if he was only in his mid to late twenties. He sat cross legged, floating in front of the five Aurameres, the sources of the Guardians' powers, as he tried to unravel the mysteries of Fate as it was being presented to him.

The job was a very heavy one, forcing him to watch as disasters accrued and being forced to just let them happen. It was not the Oracle's job to interfere with fate. But recently Fate had done something that the Oracle hadn't seen in nearly ten thousand years; it had changed. At first he had believed he had just miss read the signs, but there was definitely a change and the future was becoming harder and harder to see, as if a powerful force was blocking his vision.

He smiled as the door creaked open and Yan Lin entered the room. "It is unusual for you to expend the energy to come all the way to Kandrakar. You must truly be troubled," the Oracle said, not in the least bit surprised to see the tired old woman stepping into the room.

"You knew that I was going to come. Would it have killed you to open the fold yourself? I'm too old to be doing this and I'm not hooked up into an Auramere anymore," Yan Lin said rubbing her shoulders. "But I just had to come. A new Ghost King has appeared in front of the girls," Yan Lin said trying to keep the worry out of her voice.

"Yes, I know," the Oracle said calmly looking away.

"With all due respect Oracle, the girls are not ready for this. That disaster with the Ghost twenty years ago was almost more than Halinor, Kadma, and I could handle with our years of experience. The girls have only had their powers for a few weeks, and there was no Ghost King last time," Yan Lin said seriously. "If our Veil around Tartarus breaks then..."

"Our Veil was completely destroyed just over a year ago," the Oracle said. Yan Lin's eyes widened. The Oracle turned to the past Guardian with an almost apologetic look. "With Halinor and Kadma gone there was nothing that could be done. We didn't have time to find and train new Guardians. And so it was left to fate."

Yan Lin sighed heavily. "I understand that you didn't want me involved, but some warning would be nice. I don't believe the girls will be ready to fight off an army of Ghosts."

"We can only hope that they will never need to," the Oracle said, knowing full well that his vision of the future was clouded. "What is it that you sought when you came here, Yan Lin? You know that any knowledge you obtain cannot be shared with the girls until they are ready. We cannot change their fate."

Yan Lin looked up at the Oracle with tired eyes. "I've already said it, I'm too old for this not knowing. My heart can't help but to fear the worst. And even it is to be the worst, I think that knowing would be better for my health," she said before smiling. "Or do you want me to have a heart attack? I suppose you could use the company up here? Unless all those windbags in the counsel have suddenly become good company since I was last here?"

The Oracle smiled at his old friend. Her appearance may have changed with the years since she had first become a Guardian herself, but that free spirit which characterized a Guardian of Air had not changed in the slightest. "I will tell you this much. The new Ghost King, is not a true Ghost."

Yan Lin looked confused for a moment before she understood. "Like Achilles... he's a Halfa," Yan Lin said as she connected the dots.

The Oracle nodded. "A Human bathed in Styx, the nature of death. Changed into a creature who possess both types of Aether within them," the Oracle said looking off into the distance. "The child gained of the Heart of Tartarus through battle with its previous owner by depleting his own life force for the power that he needed. As you know, life is the most powerful form of mystics. Water, Fire, Earth, and Air, all bound together by Quintessence to form a living being. The destruction of this bond is similar to splitting an atom and releases incredible power, but it can only be done to its utmost potential within the body of a Halfa."

Yan Lin nodded. "That would explain how a child ended up holding such a dangerous artifact, and why he doesn't attack the girls."

"Though many in the counsel would deem his existence to be taboo, I should not think that he will actively try to harm us without provocation," the Oracle said calmly. "He is just a Human child. Though I suppose those words probably sound hollow to you, who knows the strength of Human children as well as I do."

"You got that right," Yan Lin laughed, but then her face turned a bit more serious. "This means I turned the girls against him for nothing," she said with a look of shame.

"You were working on your own experiences from the disaster twenty years ago. You cannot blame yourself for only doing what you believed was right," the Oracle said to comfort his old friend.

"Thank you, Himerish," Yan Lin said gratefully, using the Oracle's true name.

"It was good to see you again, Yan Lin," the Oracle said waving his ringed hand and causing a small rip to appear in space which Yan Lin walked through.

After Yan Lin left, the Oracle's brow creased a little. "The boy might not be a threat to Kandrakar, but... he was meant to have died," the Oracle mumbled to himself as he got up and went to return to his chambers.

He entered the massive space underneath his room to where he kept his memories of the distant past. He was far too old to keep all of his memories with him, hundreds of thousands of years was a lot to remember, so most of the details were kept in this sub-room.

The lighting was fairly dull as was the surroundings. The only light in the room came from a massive glass crystal within the center of the room, the store place of his memories. He walked up to the crystal and called up a memory from long ago.

The light within the glass bent, forming colors and then shapes. Within the crystal was the room he had just left, only the Aurameres had yet to be divided and remained as a single rainbow orb in the center of the room.

The doors crashed open and a bald man in a white cloak stamped into the room. The man looked much like the Oracle did now, and he should, since he was the pervious Oracle. This Oracle had been Himerish's teacher and walked with much more purpose with the Staff of Kandrakar in hand. "Outrageous!" The man shouted. "Those old fools would just sit around and talk as Pariah lays waste to Earth!"

"Oracle, please calm yourself, this is a place of peace," a younger Oracle said as he walked in behind his master. This Oracle still had a full head of white hair and looked rather worried as the old Oracle stamped about. "You know that it is not the Oracle's place to interfere with fate."

"I cannot accept that, Himerish. Something must be done. Order be damned," the old Oracle said as he walked up to the Heart of Kandrakar, staff in hand. "If they refuse to see reason and help the Humans, then I will just have to take matters into my own hands!"

The Oracle raised the staff and struck the Heart of Kandrakar. All of Kandrakar shook as the Heart glowed before splitting into the five Aurameres, the small pink crystal which would one day be called the Heart of Kandrakar was floating in the middle of them.

The old Oracle grabbed the crystal. "Go now, find those who have the will to fight. Find the Guardians," the man said as the crystal glowed before shooting up and disappearing.

"Oracle... what have you done?" Himerish asked in horror.

"I have divided the Heart of Kandrakar, and bound its power so that it may only be used by the Humans," the Oracle said looking off into the distance. "They will help guard the worlds where we have failed."

"Oracle, you cannot believe that even you will get away with this?" Himerish said backing away.

"I won't. They will strip me of my title and I will be damned for all of eternity," the Oracle said looking over to his apprentice. "I suppose that mean you are the Oracle now," the Old Oracle laughed. "I've had this job for so long that I can't even remember my real name. But, time moves forward, and so will I." He looked at Himerish with a playful smile. "Never forget that the future is not written in stone. Every second could bring new surprises." The doors shot open again and guards poured in to take the man away.

The surface of the crystal shimmered at it was the day of the trial. "You have betrayed Kandrakar, and for that you will receive the ultimate punishment," the judge said as the previous Oracle kneeled before the stands, his arms tied to a large post that lay on his back, blood dripping down the side of his face from a cut that ran over his left eye. "But my right, I sentence you to Tartarus!"

Shouts of approval filled the hall as the Old Oracle looked about them with a pleased expression on his face. His eyes settling on Himerish. "Good luck." He said as he was pulled away by three guards. That was the last that Himerish had ever seen of his master.

The Oracle was not sure why it was this event that was calling to him after all this time. But he could not help but to wonder what his master would do in his shoes.

But in the end, the Oracle's job is only to observe.

* * *

Danny was laying on his back in the grass under the shade of a tree with his eyes closed during the short morning break that the school was giving them as they tried to clean up the mess left by the giant slime pigs.

"Hey Danny," Elyon said as she sat down next to the boy.

"Morning," Danny responded, not opening his eyes but still giving a smile.

"They're saying that Uriah did all this. The only reason he isn't being expelled is because they don't have any solid proof," Elyon said in a voice that sounded unconvinced. "But after everything I've seen, I'm guessing that it's just people not wanting to see the obvious truth."

"And what makes you say that?" Danny asked grinning.

"Uriah isn't smart enough to pull anything like this off. Plus there were a lot of pillars and walls that were smashed in, and the doors to the library were bent as if a car had gone through them," Elyon said, listing off the damages. "Then you have to consider the giant hoof prints."

Danny began to laugh. "It makes you wonder how people can be so thick headed. But no one would ever believe the truth," Danny said, sitting up. "My dad dragged me here last night thinking that there might have been a ghost, so I saw everything. There were two giant pigs that drooled that purple slime stuff, and turned invisible whenever they were scared," Danny explained. "Not a real ghost, but something that could pass as one to someone who didn't know any better."

Elyon looked up and sighed. "I can't even bring myself to doubt you. It sure sounds more believable than Uriah doing it," Elyon said grabbing onto her knees. "But why at our school?"

"Who knows? Could just be random chance. Interdimensional portals are funny like that," Danny said flopping back down and pulling up some grass that he worked around between his fingers.

"Portals?" Elyon asked in surprise.

"Well sure. Where do you think the stuff comes from? Underground government facilities? Strange demon cults? If those exist I've never seen any of them then," Danny said with a shrug. "It has to do with the parallel world intersection theory."

"The what?" Elyon half laughed.

"Right... you know how they say that parallel lines never intersect? Well that only holds true as long as the plain that the lines exist in is constant. If the space bends then that no longer holds true. In a spherical plain any two parallel lines actually intersect at two points." Danny said, thinking back to all the ramblings of his father. "And since time and space bend around the center of the universe depending upon the speed of the stars, the universe is a multilayered spherical model, meaning that there are an infinite number of points of intersect at any given time. Though this is a really small infinity. Like how you have all whole numbers are a really small part of the set of all numbers in general."

"Um... English?" Elyon asked scratching her head.

"There are always portals, they just are usually unpredictable and hard to find," Danny said with a grin. "As for why this town seems to be getting a string of them. I have no idea. That's just something that science has yet to explain."

"Wow, I think you just managed to make giant slime monsters from another world sound tedious and boring," Elyon said, raising an eyebrow.

"Trust me when I say that dealing with giant slime monsters from another world is nothing but tedious and boring," Danny laughed, thinking back to the night before. There was no change in fighting something so weak and simple minded. "I won't lose sleep over Uriah taking the heat for all this. He doesn't seem like that nice of a person."

Elyon laughed with him for a bit until Will came up to them. "Hey Danny, could I maybe talk to you for a moment? Alone?" Will asked, confusing Elyon.

"Um... sure, I guess," Danny said getting up from the grass. "I'll be right back," He said to Elyon before walking off with Will.

"Why does Will want to talk to Danny?" Elyon asked herself scratching her head as she watched them go.

* * *

"So, what's up?" Danny asked once they were along.

Will took a deep breath. "I don't know how to say this, so here it goes. I want you to train me," Will said with a certain level of determination.

"You want me to what?" Danny asked a little surprised. "No offense, but don't you have someone more qualified to train you?"

"Not really, our predecessor hardly tells us anything. She just gave us the Heart and told us that our job was to close the portals. We didn't get any instructions. And you seem to know how things worked, so I was just hoping that you could help me out. I mean if you have the time," Will rambled a bit.

Danny scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry, but I kind of dropped out of the pest control business. I just want to move on with my life," Danny said looking away.

Will was quite for a moment. "Sorry... it's just... I'm just so useless," she mumbled, shocking Danny. He didn't know what to do as the girl teared up. "Ever since I became the Guardian of the Heart, I've been nothing but a burden to the others. Getting captured by the bad guys and just getting in the way in fights. I can't control an element like the other girls can. And what little I can do is so completely useless. I can't help but to think that me having the Heart in the first place was all just some big mistake. As if I only got it because I just happened to be there when they were handing it out."

"Oh wow, pull on my heart strings why don't you," Danny tried to joke, but he really didn't know how to react.

Will chuckled. "Sorry... I... I just needed to get that off my chest. There isn't really anyone who knows about all this weird stuff who I can talk to," Will said a little guiltily as she pushed the tears out of her eyes.

"Can't you just talk to the other girls about it?" Danny asked her.

"I can't. I really don't know what they really think about me." Will said crossing her arms.

Danny thought back to everything that he had heard his sister say about listening to these kinds of things. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, wondering if he was doing it right and thinking that it might be a good idea to pull out his phone and just let the girl talk to his sister.

Will took another deep breath before starting. "I became a Guardian with the other girls just after my first day of school. So while the others had been friends for years, I had just got here. I guess you could say that they are friends with me because they have to be. Cornelia doesn't even do a very good job pretending that she likes me," Will said, biting her lip. "I had just got to this city and then I was told that I have no choice but to help close the portals because it was 'my destiny'. And I've gone along with it simply because I don't have any choice."

Danny thought back to his first month after he got his powers. He hadn't even started fighting ghosts really. He had spent the time trying to regain control of himself, in constant fear of what was going to happen and what his parents would think, if his friends would abandon him. He didn't know how he survived his first few fights, most likely it is all just dumb luck. Leaving Will to go off and fight the way he had seen her fight in the past would more than likely lead to her getting killed.

"Fine, I'll teach you what I know," Danny sighed, catching Will's attention. "Granted there are certain things that I can do that you might never learn, like controlling ice and shadows, but the basic stuff is mostly universal as long as you have enough juice; enhanced strength and speed, as well as illusions and how to make proper energy blasts and shields. I'll also have to teach you to defend yourself against psychic attacks and attempts to steal your energy, not to mention actually fighting. But beyond that we'll just have to figure out how your powers actually work," Danny said, suddenly sounding dead serious. "Don't suppose you know a place where we can go nuts without worrying about smashing anything too important."

"There is a small island in the bay that has a large cave on it," Will said with a wide grin. "You won't regret this," she said assuredly.

"You're right, you will," Danny said his eyes flickering green as he did an evil grin. "I don't intend to go easy on you," he said letting his Aether intimidate her a little as he left. Will tried to force down the impulse to gulp at the threat. He wasn't going to do anything that bad... was he?

* * *

"What did Will want to talk to you about?" Elyon asked when Danny got bad.

"Oh... um... it was just... she wanted to say she was sorry about following us around at the carnival," Danny lied.

"Oh... okay then," Elyon said confused. Danny wasn't a very good liar, but... why was he lying?

* * *

"So... that's it," Phobos mumbled as he sat in his throne reading from one of his hundreds of books.

"My Prince, you called for me?" Cedric said bowing before Phobos in his Human form.

"Yes Cedric, I wish to ask you a few questions about this Ghost King," Phobos said looking over from his book. Cedric had to restrain a wince at the mention of the boy.

"Whatever you wish, my Prince," he said in his low dry voice.

"Tell me Cedric, would you say that the boy was Human? If you had not seen his ghostly form?" Phobos asked looking as if he already knew the answer.

Cedric frowned. "It is true that the Ghost does not seem to act like a Ghost. His behavior is most Human. He even has Humans that he has convinced that they are his family," Cedric reported. "May I be so bold as to ask why you wish to know?"

"Because, Lord Cedric, this is the key to defeating this 'King of All Ghosts'," Phobos said with a wicked smile as he tossed down the book he had been holding. It skidded across the floor before stopping before the snakeman. On the cover, written in the language of the beasts, were the words 'Tales of Achilles: The First Halfa'.

* * *

Will flew low over the turning waters of the bay, breathing in the smell of the salty waters as she moved towards the small island where she had arranged to meet with Danny for her first lesson. She had left an astral drop in her bed incase her mother checked on her in the night.

She liked the smell of the ocean, swimming had been a sport that she had always excelled in, and she couldn't help imagining herself flying through the water as she looked down at her distorted refection in the moon light.

But soon she landed on the island and spotted Danny sitting on the beach. "Sorry I'm a little late," She said as she walked up to him. But Danny didn't move, he just sat there looking out to sea. "Hey you in there?" She asked confused.

"Why are you talking to that rock?" A voice said from behind her. Will jumped and turned in midair to see Danny standing there grinning. She turned back to where the sitting Danny had been to find that there was only a rock where he had been sitting. "You should have been able to tell it was a fake. Inanimate objects don't have souls. When you are dealing with an enemy who can use illusions you should always look for their Aether trail," Danny said smugly.

"I didn't know the lesson already started," Will grumbled a little embarrassed.

"Well the let me tell you," Danny said slowly as shadows wrapped themselves around his arm like a whip. "That the lesson had just began, Will dived to the ground as the black whip sailed through the air, but it had not been aimed at her. Instead it cut a massive boulder off of the top of the cave that slammed to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Wait... you aren't attacking me?" Will asked confused.

Danny laughed again. "There would be no point in doing that. You first need to learn something before we put you to the test. Now go push that boulder to the water's edge and back," Danny said waving her off before going and sit down on the rock that used to be disguised at him. Will's jaw dropped as she looked at the rock. It was the size of a small car and must have weighted at least a ton. "Just like you focused you mystic energy into your eyes, you can focus it into your arms and legs. Now go on. Do it," Danny said with a smile that made Will pretty sure he was enjoying this.

"Well... that eye trick was easy enough," Will whispered to herself as she moved up to the boulder. "Alright, on the first try now!" She shouted to psyche herself up. But that was not going to happen.

* * *

An hour later and Will was gasping for breath. The rock had yet to budge an inch. She looked over and saw Danny on his back not even watching her as he looked up at the stars. She gritted her teeth in annoyance. "This is impossible! The rock is just too big!" Will shouted in her frustration. Danny chuckled, further annoying her.

"The rock isn't too big. You just aren't doing it right," he said not bothering to look. "Think of it like this, do you contract all of your muscles when you lift your arm?" He said his hand moving around as he traced the constellations in the stars. "Of course not, because otherwise the muscles would be working against each other. So people instinctively learn at a young age which muscle to use for what actions in order to survive. Right now you are using your energy to strengthen every single muscle and it is just wasting energy. You're as bad as a newborn baby, unable to even crawl," Will glared at the insult. "You're getting angry at me. Fine, you still won't prove me wrong for a few more days." Danny goaded her.

She bit her lip and looked back at the rock. She hated how nonchalant he was being about everything. Like he was so much better than her. She pressed her arms against the face of the rock pushed with all her might, putting as much of her energy she could into it. But there was no yield. Her arms and legs began to ache from exhaustion. Her mind becoming more and more distracted by these points.

But then to her astonishment, the boulder began to shift and she took a whole step before it became unmoving again.

"It's about time. Your muscles have started to produce enough lactic acid for you to feel the points your muscles use in order to produce the desired reaction. Then when you started to concentrate on the pain your mystic energy started to move to those points more than the others," Danny said, looking over at her with a triumphant grin.

"So... I did it," Will said with a little proud of herself. Until Danny began to laugh.

"Yes, you managed to move it one foot, congratulations. You still have to take it to the beach and back," Danny said turning back to the stars.

Will's eye twitched as she looked at the thirty feet that she had left to go and momentarily considered trying to just kill Danny instead. But that wouldn't do her any good. So she sighed and started again at the boulder.

* * *

It took the girl two more hours to move the boulder all the way down to the beach and then push it back up to where she had started. With each step the next one happened that much faster as her power learned where to flow.

By the time she was done, it was just after midnight and she flopped down on the ground in the cave gasping for breath. "I... I did it," she said with a certain level of satisfaction. Though she had long since forgotten why exactly she was pushing a boulder to and from a cave.

She felt something cool against her face and open her eyes to find a bottle of water laying again her cheek. "Drink up, you earned it," Danny said with a look of superiority. One that was quickly getting on Will's nerves as the reason behind her pain came back to her. But she still took the bottle and downed it as fast as she could. "You've now graduated from a baby that can't even crawl to a toddler that can barely walk," Danny said sitting down in front of the girl with his legs crossed. "Tomorrow you will learn how to actually punch something."

"And how will I do that? Punching the rock to and from the beach?" Will grumbled. Danny didn't answer but his wide grin spoke for itself. "You're the devil."

"I never said this was going to be easy, but if you want there is another way you can learn," Danny said with a shrug.

"What is that?" Will asked before a deep chill moved through the air.

"You could fight me," Danny with a look that could peel paint off of metal. "Of course, I can't be sure you would survive. It would be a shame if I misjudged your abilities and accidentally killed you."

"Um... I'm good," Will said quickly as she reconsidered her opinion of the training method.

"Good to hear," Danny said as he crossed his legs and flouted a few inches up off the ground. "Now for your next lesson..." Will groaned as her body protested the idea. "Don't worry, this is simply talking. You won't have to do any more physical training... yet anyways," Danny promised. "We need to figure out the exact nature of your powers if we are ever going to get you to make full use to them. So tell me about what you can do."

"Well... I can fly, shot energy waves and that's pretty much it," Will said laying on her back.

"Well that was not helpful at all," Danny said, scratching his head and earning another scowl from Will. "Don't just tell me the big stuff. Any small detail might be important. For example, I cough up mist whenever I'm around another Ghost. This is because I have an ice core and the true nature of my powers is ice," Danny said putting a hand over his chest and letting it glow a soft light blue, before showing his hand to revel a block of ice.

Will closed her eyes and thought back to everything weird that she had caused. She couldn't think of anything, it had always been the other girls who had the big flashy powers. She shook her head. 'Don't worry about the size. Has anything ever happened?' She asked herself again. Then she did remember something.

"When I was burned, the burn disappeared quickly, right before my eyes," Will said looking over at Danny who nodded. "And... I can draw out the other girls' full powers."

Danny frowned. "You said that the other girls all controlled an element, right?" Danny asked.

"Um, yeah. Irma has water, Taranee fire, Cornelia's got earth, and Hay Lin has wind," Will said wondering where this was going.

"So you can heal yourself, and bring out the power of the elements," Danny said floating a bit higher and flipping over. Will raised an eyebrow at the action. "How much do you know about life force?" Danny asked.

Will blinked. "It isn't dead force?" Will chuckled with a shrug.

"Right..." Danny sighed as he flipped back over and returned to the ground. "Then let's take if from the top. You already know about Aether right? Well there is two different types of Aether. One is called Styx, and is the Aether of the immortal beings, ghosts and spirits that exist, but are not truly alive. The other is called Quintessence, and is the Aether of the mortal, living beings," Danny said as he leaned forward and started to draw in the sand with his finger.

"Quintessence is the mortal element, and it binds the other four elements in order to form life energy," Danny said looking over at Will. "So if your friends have the other four elements..."

"Then I might have Quintessence?" Will finished wide eyed. She might be able to control her own element.

"Just a theory. It would explain why your Aether is so much stronger than everyone else's. Even for someone with mystic powers, you light up like a flare," Danny joked.

"Alright, so what can Quintessence do? How do I use it?" Will demanded.

"You're asking the King of the Dead how to use the element of life?" Danny said scratching his head. "I have no idea. I barely know anything about Quintessence or the other elements beyond their relation to life force. My powers don't involve them."

"Oh..." Will said a little disappointed.

Danny looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You know you could try to find something out. Don't you have any resources? A magical talking frog maybe?"

"Well... we have a talking frog, but he isn't magical. And he smells like you wouldn't believe," Will said sarcastically, trying to hide her disappointment.

Danny sighed and looked away. "I might know a guy who would have some kind of information on it. A book hoarding ghost," Danny admitted then groaned. "Not looking forward to going to the Ghost Zone for information. I'm not exactly popular there," Will's eyes shot open again and a bit of life seemed to return to her. "But that will all have to wait for the weekend. I'm not exactly going to take a trip in the middle of the week."

'So four days,' Will told herself as she nodded. She could wait that long.

"You've had a long enough rest. Back to training. We need to teach you how to throw an energy blast that will do more than a slap from a fluffed pillow," Danny said getting up.

Will paled again at the thought of more training. Maybe she wouldn't survive four days.

* * *

'Calm your emotions...' Will kept repeating to herself over and over again as she tried to steady her breathing. She was tucked into a shadow behind an elm tree, listening as the massive creature that hunted her drew near, its heavy footsteps and breath ringing in her ears, and quickening her heart. She could see the waves of sickly green Aether coming off of the creature's body through the tree. Its nose was pressed to the ground as it sniffed her out. "Calm your emotions... calm your emotions... get a grip Will."

But the beast's head shot up and looked in her direction. She gasped and barely jumped back in time before a green dog the size of an Indian elephant smashed through the tree she had been hiding behind.

It massive paws went into the air over Will's head and she closed her eyes and forced all of her energy into putting up a shield around her. The dog's paws smashed into the shield and Will grunted with the strain of trying to keep it up.

"You need to control your emotions if you don't want to get caught," Danny's voice shouted from on top of the cave as he looked down at the Guardian's struggles. "Your Aether is like a giant beacon to everyone that can sense it. You broadcast your emotions like it's no one's business."

"That's easy for you to say... you aren't the one being hunted down by a giant dog..." Will grumbled with the strain of holding her shield.

"You think your enemies will all be fluffy bunny rabbits? You can't let your opponent's appearance frighten you. You have to be prepared," Danny said the same way he always had. "Will are you even listening to me?"

"Of course I am..." Will grumbled but she was becoming tired and her body started to feel as if she was being dipped in cold water.

"Will? Will? Are you listening?" Danny kept saying.

"Will wake up!" Will's head shot up to find Cornelia standing above her with her hands on her hips.

"Wha?" Will said confused as she looked around to find that she was in the Lin family basement again.

"Geez Will, it's called a bed, I think you need one," Irma joked as all the girls looked at Will, most with concern, Cornelia with annoyance.

"Sorry, I've been studying later recently," Will lied as she tried to stretch and her sore muscles popped her stiff joints. Irma was right, she did need a bed.

"We aren't having these meeting for fun, Will," Cornelia said angrily.

"Right... what were we talking about?" Will asked, scratching her head.

"We were discussing this unusual quiet we've been having. I mean, Phobos knows where Elyon is, so why hasn't he made a move yet?" Taranee said, recapping the discussion for Will.

"Phobos has waited thirteen years to capture his sister. I am sure he is just buying his time until the right moment to strike," Hay Lin said seriously. Little did they know what was really going on.

"Cedric I don't understand this," Phobos said as he read from one of the books from Earth about Achilles.

"What isss it my prince?" Cedric asked bowing before his ruler.

"In the original telling of the legend of Achilles, he is depicted as the warrior son of a mighty King. He was invincible on the battlefield and won many conflicts even at an early age until being struck down by a God of the sun for acts against the God. But in the last play written about his life, he is said to have had a sheltered life in a castle disguised as a Princess until the war at Troy, where he was killed by being shot by a coward in his heel of all things," Phobos said before looking over his book again. "I cannot understand why someone would write such a tale about their hero. And why did they say that he was in love with the Trojan Princess? When would he have even met her?"

"Sssir, I believe that isss what the Earthlingsss call, Fan Fiction," Cedric said with a shiver. "It isss bessst if Your Magisssty doesssn't think about it."

"Fan... Fiction..." Phobos said slowly as he looked down at the book. "Interesting. I will have to look into this further."

"And your sssister?" Cedric asked the Prince.

"My what?" Phobos said, looking up again, then a look shock passed over his face. "Oh. Oh right! I can't believe I forgot about that," Phobos said straightening up. "Cedric bring me my sister's breath so that we can finish the Ceremony of the Amalgamation. I don't care how you do it. Just be quick about it!"

"Yesss, my Prince," Cedric said, bowing before slithering away.

* * *

Will was more than glad when the team's meeting was over, and having accomplished nothing but doing their weekend's homework, the girls split up to go back to their normal everyday lives. Hay Lin stayed at the restaurant to help her grandmother with deliveries, Cornelia went shopping for shoes, Taranee went back to her place to study more, Irma had to go and babysit her bratty younger brother, and Will... Will went back to her room to get reacquainted with her mattress and take stock of some sheep.

She knew she would need the rest for when that night came. It had been four days since she had first started training under Danny. Four incredibly difficult days where she came home not knowing if she would even have the strength to lift a finger the next morning. But each day she gained more and more strength. She could now lift the boulder up and fly with it rather than struggling to simply push it along.

Danny had taught her how to build up energy rather than just throwing it around, so her energy beams had been replaced by high powered blasts that could cause some actual damage. Her shield had also seen a major improvement as she learned to expand and maintain a shield beyond just her arms reach.

She still struggled to control her emotions and she was finding it difficult to create a glamour bigger than a marble, but she wasn't all that concerned. She had gained enough power to be useful in a fight. And that night, she was going to finally learn about her own element, Quintessence.

"Today's the day," Will thought with a smile as she drifted to sleep.

* * *

"Today's the day," Danny grumbled to himself as he pushed himself up in bed. He was not looking forward to another trip into the Ghost Zone.

He had been genuinely surprised at Will's progress. There must have been something to this 'chosen one' shtick that all the cool kids were getting because she picked up on many of the more general skills faster than Danny had expected. Though she did have the advantage of a teacher and not accidentally phasing through things if she didn't pay attention or if she got too excited.

She was having a difficult time controlling her emotions, but Danny wasn't exactly the worlds' foremost expert on self-restraint himself. Plus, he had been teasing her the entire time she was practicing. And he had sent Cujo after her. The Ghost dog wouldn't have actually hurt her, but he was still more than a little jarring to people who didn't know that.

Danny took his morning shower and ate his late breakfast/early lunch before heading out the door. "I'm off," Danny said, hardly caring if anyone heard him as he closed the door behind him and headed off to an abandoned alley.

Danny looked both ways to see if anyone was watching out of habit before putting up a glamour that would hide anything that happened from anyone who might have been watching, even if it was on a hidden camera.

Danny lifted up the ring of rage in front of him and the green and purple flames danced about as he slowly dragged the face of the ring over an empty space in front of him, creating a small tear in the Veil he had created to separate the Ghost Zone from the Human world. The shifting green energy was all too familiar to Danny, and the Ghostboy hardly batted an eyebrow as he entered the world of the Ghosts.

The world was unchanged, the dark green and purple skies were littered with the remnants of the planet that must have once been within this dimension. A planet that had been destroyed during a battle in a time long before memory. The air itself was full of the very nature of death and pain. The moans of the vengeful spirits hummed in the air.

But as Danny entered this word, everything went quiet. The Ghosts scattered to get away from him, hiding behind floating rocks and murmuring to each other as they prayed that he would simply pass them by.

Danny sighed. It was the reason he hated going to the Ghost Zone ever since he had obtained the Ring of Rage. The reactions of the Ghosts to his presence was more than a little disheartening to him. After all, what kind of monster are you when even the Ghosts shuffle away in fear of your approach.

"Welcome back I guess," Danny mumbled drearily to himself as he took his bearings and headed off towards his destination. Things were not made better for him by the excitement he felt coming from the Ring of Rage. The piece of metal around Danny's neck was taking pleasure in the chaos and violence that was almost a palpable force in the air of the Ghost Zone.

'Conquest...' The ring seemed to whisper. It wanted minions, and it wanted to get them by force. It wanted to crush the Ghosts under its heel and strap a collar on each of them. But Danny wanted no part in it, and simply ignored the ring.

The feeling of being completely and utterly alone pressed down on Danny's shoulders and he moved deeper into 'his kingdom'. But he just sighed and chose to bear with it. It would be a few minutes before he would reach his destination.

* * *

One... Two... Three... The phone rang over and over again, but nobody answered.

"Danny, where are you?" Elyon wondered. She had called his cell phone four times and texted him, but she got no answer. Finally she gave up on his cell phone and called his house. It was picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?" Maddie Fenton's voice said from the other side of the line.

"Um... hi, it's Elyon," Elyon said a little glad that Jack hadn't been the one to answer the phone.

"Oh, hello sweetie, how are you?" Maddle asked cheerfully.

"I'm good Mrs. Fenton. I was just wondering if Danny was there? He doesn't seem to be answering his phone," Elyon asked.

"I'm sorry he already left, he didn't say where he was going," Maddie apologized. "I had just assumed he was going to meet with you."

"No... we hadn't arranged anything yet. Thanks anyways," Elyon said a little disappointed before hanging up the phone. "Danny, where are you?"

* * *

"Where am I?" Danny asked himself as he scratched his head and looked from left to right. It had been a while since his last visit to this part of the Ghost Zone. This coupled with his poor sense of direction had resulted in him wondering around in circles for nearly three hours.

Danny stopped flying about and gave a heavy sigh. "Maybe he moved or something," Danny mumbled as he tilted his head back to look up at the sky. Then he slapped himself in the face when he saw what he was looking for floating around fifty feet above him.

It was a large white library done up to look more like an official government building rather than someone's home.

Danny flew up and knocked on the door. "Who is it!?" an angry voice bellowed from inside. The door flew open to show a Ghost the size of an average man with disheveled black hair that didn't cover his pointed ears. The effect of his red eyes and goatee to make him look intimidating were undermined by his rather old fashioned glasses. "Don't you know better to interrupt an artist while he is working you... you... y..." The Ghost's angry rant died off as he realized who was standing in front of him. "Oh butter biscuits," The Ghost Writer gulped. "Pha... Phantom, how have you been? You aren't sore about the whole 'trapping you inside a poem' thing... are you?"

Danny had only had one other dealing with this particular ghost in the past, though it hadn't been a pleasant one in the slightest. The Ghost had used a powerful glamour to manipulate the world around Danny in order to enact some sick revenge for having had his Christmas poem vaporized.

But now that Danny understood the workings behind glamours, he was all but completely immune to such a trick, and the Ghost Writer knew it.

Danny grinned. "Water under the bridge. I admit that it was more than partially my fault for disrespecting your obsession," Danny said waving the Ghost off. The Ghost Writer let out a sigh of relief. "I'm just here for a book."

The Ghost Writer looked horrified again and tears came to his eyes. "No! Anything but that! Don't take my books away!" The Ghost started to hyperventilate at the thought, a very difficult feat since Ghost's didn't have any real lungs to breath with.

"Wow, calm down Ghost Writer, I just want to see if you have the info I need, I'm not going to take any of your books from you. I promise," Danny said, trying to assure the book hoarder Ghost. Danny mentally rolled his eyes. Things had been a lot simpler when the Ghosts would just attack him so he could punch their lights out without feeling any guilt and then just take whatever he needed.

"You... you promise?" The Ghost Writer asked as he pushed away the tears.

"I promise," Danny said putting up his hand in the 'scout's honor' way.

"Oh... alright then." The Ghost Writer said as he straightened up. "What can I help you with, Phantom?"

"Do you have any books on the workings of Quintessence?" Danny asked as the Ghost Writer let him into his lair.

"Quintessence? I do, but why would you want to know about such a thing?" The Ghost Writer asked with a look of confusion. "You may be a Halfa, but you don't have nearly the amount of Quintessence needed to use its more unique qualities."

"I know that, but I've gained an apprentice of sorts who I'm pretty sure has a truck load of the stuff. So I need to figure out how to train her properly," Danny said floating over to a chair by a hearth as the Ghost Writer scanned his shelves.

"I highly doubt you found a Human who has such a power, unless you found a Grand Descended, or a Guardian," The Ghost Writer said, only stopping himself from scoffing by the memory of who he was talking too.

"She is a Guardian," Danny said, not really knowing much about who the Guardian's were.

The Ghost Writer stopped and turned to look at the boy with wide eyes behind his glasses. "You are... you are training one of the keepers of the Heart of Kandrakar?" The Ghost Writer said, nearly dropping the book he had pulled from the shelf in shock.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Danny asked, not recognizing the word Kandrakar.

The Ghost Writer's face was grim. "I forget that you are not a true..." he started, but then he bit down on his tongue out of fear of insulting the boy. He coughed to cover it up before starting again. "No... nothing. You can do whatever you want," he said before flying down to Danny and handing him a light book.

On the book's cover were three symbols, the first was the flaming skull that symbolized the Ghost Zone, the second was the black silhouetted tree steaming from five lines which made up the stump, this was the symbol for Earth, but the third was one that Danny didn't recognize. It was a silver character that looked a bit like a 'C' with a small point on the bottom and a large dot in the middle.

The title read, 'The War of the Worlds: Pyrrhus' Diary'. "That one is just a copy I had made in English. Take it, I have the original," the Ghost Writer said, looking away. "It should have a description of the Guardian's powers in it."

"Thanks for your help," Danny said getting up and using the Ring of Rage to open a portal to Earth.

"A Ghost King, training a Guardian of the Infinity. What has the universe come to?" The Ghost Writer scoffed before going back to his desk to continue his writing.

* * *

Danny arrived on the island where he would eventually have to teach Will that night. He didn't have anything else planned for that day so he fell back on his back and cracked open the book.

 _'My father has always told me that the history of our world is spread by the word of mouth of Humans, and that therefore history is a liar. People walk about and speak of the conflict that is to come, men and women tell fantastic stories about the reasons for why the brave are marching for Troy. Alas, they are all fools. Speaking of things that they know nothing of, and the saddest truth is that these lies are going to be what is written in the stone tablets for our children to hear again and again until the past has been undone completely. I am not writing this for their sake. But I am afraid that one day their words will shatter even my will and rewrite my life before I have even passed away. So I will write the story of this war between worlds, this fight that was brought upon us by those we foolishly believed to be gods. I am Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, and this will be my anchor in the sea of lies.'_


	5. Chapter 5

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

 **Edited by Xbox432**

* * *

 _The night sky was full of vivid green lights, pouring forth from a massive rift that hung in the emptiness above us after it had swallowed the moon and stars. I felt so small and insignificant as I stared at it. It was heart stoppingly scary, though it was also rather beautiful. But most of all, it was our enemy. The Pit of Tartarus, the stories did not do it justice._

 _"You know if you stare at it too long it will eat you, right?" A joking voice came from behind me moments before my head was dragged into someone's smelly arm pit._

 _"Oh, gross! Father, let go!" I struggled as my father laughed and flung me about. "Fresh air!" I gasped after finally pulling my head free._

 _I looked over at my father who stood beside me laughing at the worlds as if daring any who may wish to try and stop him._

 _Achilles, my father, was a grizzled man with blood red hair that reached most the way down his back because my mom didn't want him to cut it. His bright green eyes that shone in the light of the other worldly sky as he looked to the sky himself._

 _"Don't look so glum Pyrrhus, we need to keep up moral for the others. People look to us for leadership and we say, 'grab a spear and watch me work'!" My dad laughed at his own attempt at wit. But he did cheer me up a bit._

 _My father wasn't just the hero of Greece, or even just the hero of our world. The stakes in this battle were far beyond our understanding. Something so massive that no legend will ever be able to do it justice. But my father didn't let any of it get to him. And why should he? He was the invincible man, forged in the fires of the other world. He wielded power equal to the monsters that attacked us and his skills in battle were unmatched._

 _"Yes father, I will try to remember that," I said with a grin. I had inherited only a small portion of my father's strength and skill in battle, along with his dark red hair, but even as a boy of thirteen years, I was still more than a match for any in our armies._

 _"Good, because you know that you and Odysseus are the only ones I can count on out here, don't you?" My father said flashing a smile as he looked up at the rift. "An entire world of Ghosts, creatures who's evil frightens the gods themselves. They will make worthy foes," he said before turning to me. "Tomorrow we will show them the true unbeatable strength of the heart of a man, and then we will see who fears who!" I looked up at my father. 'Be a man', it was his solution for everything. It made me feel like I could do anything. Like being Human was something to be proud of._

 _But the moment passed as someone in the camp let out a cry of joy. "The Guardians! The Guardians have returned!"_

* * *

 _The Guardians. Words could hardly describe them. Five women more beautiful than any that I had ever seen anywhere else. Each of them was dressed in a strange form of bright purple and blue garb that held the eyes of the men in the camp as they walked passed. Each had a pair of fine wings coming from their backs, which started the popular belief that these girls were Nymphs, sent by the gods to help us in our troubled times. And even with the stories of the worlds beyond that my father had told me, I couldn't help but believe the girls were somehow divine._

 _Their leader, Xin Jing, walked in front of them, a woman with midnight eyes and hair that framed a narrow face with a captivating smile. A large pink jewel hung around her neck that radiated a power strong enough for even me to recognize. Every man in camp, even those with wives, were always struck dumb by their presence, and I am ashamed to say that I was no exception. Only my father and always stubborn Odysseus seemed immune to the women's charms._

 _My father stood before them as they entered the camp in order to great them. "I hope you bring good news. How goes it with our unseen supporters in the clouds?" My father asked curiously._

 _"Are you hoping for an army to come to your aid, Achilles?" Xin Jing said, with a look that would have stopped most men's hearts. "I am afraid that Kandrakar does not send such things to planets like this one. We are all you are getting."_

 _"That is perfectly fine, but a few swords and arrows would be much welcomed," Odysseus said, crossing his arms in front of him. "You know very well that the ore for the metal that can even scratch these Ghosts is rare, most of our men might as well be using pieces of bark. We need weapons!"_

 _"Then you need for something that Kandrakar does not have!" Another of the Guardians snapped. Odysseus opened his mouth to shout back, but my father placed a hand on his shoulder._

 _"Odysseus, please. Remember who the enemy is," my father said to calm his friend._

 _"Sometimes I wonder," Odysseus mumbled with a sigh. "At least tell me you didn't come back empty handed. They must have given you something."_

 _"They did," Xin Jing said, taking the jewel from around her neck and pulling it across the air in front of her. A rip appeared in the space in front of her and blinding white and blue light poured from the opening, and when the light disappeared a large black and green sarcophagus was floating in the air next to her. "We received a prison for which to seal the Ghost King in after he is defeated."_

 _"Oh, so all we have to do is break through the enemy army and defeat a god. Well that should be easy," Odysseus said with a scowl. I had to remind myself that this was the concept he called 'sarcasm', a way of speaking he was in the process of inventing. It seemed like an odd concept, saying the opposite of what you meant to make a point._

 _"I believe you should take this more seriously," Xin Jing said disapprovingly._

 _But then my father just began to laugh. "If we must then we must my friend. And we will! If it means protecting this world then I will fight every last one of those Ghosts to the death beyond death! So let tomorrow come! And may our enemy tremble at its coming!" My father's laughter rang through the air and the world seemed brighter. We all believed in him. The man who would surpass the Ghosts and lead us to victory._

 _But when tomorrow really did come, none of us were prepared._

* * *

 _The sounds of war rang through the air, the cries of the injured and dying mixed with the clashes of metal on metal and the hum of war horns. It was just like any other battle, only it wasn't. The enemies that pressed against us like waves against a rocky beach were not normal men, but the undying creatures of Tartarus._

 _Mass numbers of skeleton soldiers weighed down against our shielded lines trying to break through to our few sages whose spells forced the monsters to maintain their physical forms. If the creatures got through to the sages, then we would all be as good as dead._

 _I was at the front of this guard, facing off against the Ghosts. My fellows were falling around me one by one to the Ghosts' attacks as they were overwhelmed by their beyond Human strength. Soon I was alone, striking down the skeletons one after another as my blade glowed a sharp green from my own power. But there seemed to be no end to them._

 _I heard a scream and turned my head just slightly to see a massive creature like nothing I had ever heard of. It had a long serpent like body the size of a warship, with a scaly stomach and hair all along its back. Four massive Human arms stuck out just underneath the beast's head as it crawled around on all fours. And what a head it was, a hairy sphere with a flat nose and a mouth filled with row after row of razor sharp black teeth the size of spear heads._

 _The creature was ripping through our lines leaving a path of utter destruction in its wake, seemingly unable to differentiate its friends from foes. Its course was taking it closer and closer to me, but I was unable to move from shock of seeing this beast._

 _Just before it could tear through me a dark purple light came down from the sky and smashed into the beast's head, flattening it against the ground. Cheers went up as everyone realized who it was, my father had joined the fray._

 _He stood upon the downed beast in his fully empowered form. A pale white glow covered his bronze armor turning it a brilliant white underneath his midnight cape which flowed in the wind of his dark purple energy. His long red hair had turned the same crystal blue as river water on a clear day, and his normally green eyes had changed to the same dark purple as his energy._

 _"Don't falter! Show these creeps who this world belongs to!" My Father shouted, his echoing voice filling the battlefield bringing with it a new level of determination. My father came down on the enemy army of skeletons with his trusted spear, cutting down dozens of the creatures with each sweep of his weapon._

 _Next the Guardians came down from the skies. It was my first time seeing them in battle, but they each wielded vast powers that could be compared to the gods and goddesses of legend. The female warriors flew about in the air bring down entire hordes of enemies wherever they went._

 _Each one seemed to control one of the elements themselves; Water, Fire, Earth, Air. But the most shocking was their leader. Bolts of pale blue lightning jumped from her hands that reduced her victims to ashes. After just a few minutes, my father and the Guardians had completely turned the tide of battle and had begun to press forward._

 _"Achilles, this battle will never end unless we defeat Pariah!" Xin Jing shouted to my father after we had been earned more than a little breathing room._

 _"Then lead the way! I'm looking forward to showing this Ghost King the strength of our world where he can see it!" My father shouted to them before he took to the sky as they all flew towards the castle of Troy. I suppose they didn't notice as I did my best to fly along behind them. I was not about to let my father face the Ghost King without me._

 _To this day, I wonder if things would have turned out the same if I had just stayed behind._

* * *

Danny paused in his reading to stretch. "So, lightning. The unique quality of Quintessence is generating bioelectricity," he mumbled to himself.

Needless to say, the story had been more than a surprise to him. He had guessed that there had been Halfa's before him and Vlad, but he had never exactly known any by name. And the level of difference between what the story said happened from what history claimed was not that big of a shock to the boy. But that both the Guardians and a Halfa were involved in the fight against Pariah was a bit of a shocker.

He took a deep breath and was getting prepared to continue reading when he sensed Will's Aether coming towards the island. "I'll finish it tonight," he told himself as he put the book away to get ready for the girl's arrival.

* * *

Will lighted down on the island to find Danny laying on his back looking up at the stars. But after having been tricked four times into thinking he was there when he really wasn't, she sent out a pulse of mystic energy to see if his image would flicker in response to her power. Sand was pushed lightly over the beach and sure enough, the image disappeared.

"Not bad, you're getting more used to dealing with me," said a new Danny that was sitting in a tree nearby. Will flickered her Aether sight on and off to find that his Aether remained regardless. This Danny was another trick for if she had left her new sight on.

"Maybe, or maybe you are just becoming too predictable," Will said with a grin and sent another wave towards the Danny in the tree. The leaf shifted gently as this Danny also disappeared. "I not going to fall for the same trick five times."

"So, four was enough for you then?" Danny said cheekily. Will turned to see one final Danny sitting on a rock with a book sitting on the stone next to him. She could tell that this was the real one.

"Just keep talking. You know I'm getting good at this," Will said. She was barely holding in her excitement as she looked to her mentor. After a few moments of silence she gave in. "So, did you find anything or not?"

"Well, believe it or not, there is no owner's manual for a Guardian," Danny said, seeing a twinge of disappointment on Will's face. "But I found a mention of a past leader using her powers. It's something to go off of and enough for a good guess," Will's eyes widened and a grin split her face.

"And?" She asked, starting to get inpatient.

"Bioelectricity. You can throw lightning," Danny chuckled.

Will did a little jig and jumped up into the air. "Yes! My power kicks ass!" She shouted in self-congratulation.

"Well, you have to learn how to use it first," Danny pointed out smugly. Though if he was right, and this was Will's true calling, he wasn't worried that she wouldn't be able to use it. It was more of a worry about being able to control it.

"Alright where do we start, I'll clear this challenge, no problem," Will said confidently.

"Alright, do you know anything about the Chinese acupuncture's mappings of the flow of chi energy through the body?" Danny asked Will as she sat down across from him.

"Um... no," Will said, giving him a look.

"Good, neither do I. So let's just wing it and hope for the best," Danny said rubbing his hands together. "You've been using your mystic energy for a little while now, so you might have started to get a feel for were your center is. The point where all of your power comes from," Danny said looking up at Will. "Now, the basis for any of this is going to be the flow of your energy from your center, but in order to produce anything you are going to have to let the power build up. Otherwise you won't have anything bigger than a spark, like when you touch a door knob while wearing a wool sweater," Danny said as he transformed into his Ghost form and let his hands began to glow green as he held them together.

"Electricity usually wants to go from highest potential to lowest, but it is going to be mixed in with your mystic energy which will bend to your will. Simply willing the flow to exist will cause it. Even if the electricity has a preference of its own, your will can command it. All you have to do is sharpen the energy as the flow becomes narrower and faster until..." Danny said as he pulled his hands apart and let Will see the sparks of green electricity jumping between his hands. "So, ready to give it a shot?"

Will nodded. "Born ready," she said lifting up her hands.

"Wait a second," Danny said to stop her. He floated up into the air and moved several feet back before putting up a shield around himself. "Just a precaution. I'd rather not be hit by lightning, it isn't nearly as fun as it sounds."

Will closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could, moving as much of her power as she could manage and trying to feel for its flow. She had believed that it was going to be an uphill struggle, just like everything else had been in her training so far. So she was completely taken off guard when everything exploded.

Large pale blue bolts of electricity shot from each of her fingertips as the energy struggled to break free of her control. She was shocked and tried to pull back on the power but this caused it to resist her even more. The threads of electricity flew around and struck everything that was even remotely close to her, catching trees ablaze and blasting rocks into pieces and zigzagging through the sand.

But soon the energy she had built up died out and she was left staring at the damages. "Well that could have gone better, but at least we know that I was right about the whole lightning thing," Danny said, putting out the fires with an arctic breeze.

"W...why did all that happen? When you did it there were just a few sparks, not an entire storm?" Will asked, more than a little shocked at her own power.

"Hey, calm down, it's no big deal. You just need to learn some control. And as for why mine was no more than 'just a few sparks', you got to remember that electricity isn't the true nature of my powers. I could produce a tornado if I wanted to, but it still wouldn't match the scale that Hay Lin could. At least not without using ten times as much energy," Danny said as he leaned back pretending to be relaxed. "What did you think was going to happen when you tapped into your full powers without having any way of controlling it?"

"But this never happened with the other girls' powers. Sure Taranee set some trash on fire, but nothing this big," Will said as she looked around to find that some of the sand had been turned to glass by the heat from her power.

"People say that fire is pretty chaotic, but it is rather tame and predictable. But lightning never hits the same place twice," Danny said with a grin as he picked up a rock.

"I thought that expression wasn't true?" Will asked confused.

"It isn't, but it does get my point across," Danny said, tossing her the stone. Try to see if you can concentrate the electricity into destroying that stone without it flying all over the place."

"Al...alright," Will said, but she didn't sound as excited as before. There was a hint of fear in her voice and in her Aether as she made to try again.

Danny watched as her energy struggled against her and she pulled back as she felt her power's resistance to her commands. "Will, you don't need to be afraid," Danny said looking over at the Guardian. "This power isn't like any of the others I have shown you so far. This isn't some trick that could be pulled off by anyone with enough training and some mystical balls. This is your power, the very nature of who you are. The sooner you accept that, the less it will struggle against you."

"Are... are you sure?" Will asked, her worry clear in her voice. "How do I know I won't explode again?"

"Will, when I first came into my ice powers I nearly froze myself to death resisting them. It was only once I had accepted it as part of who I am and let the energy flow that I regained my control," Danny said seriously. "The moment you first used this power you opened Pandora's Box, now you can ether take charge of this power or it could destroy you."

"Oh that is calming!" Will said angrily, but she took a deep breath. "Come on, you can do this," she said to herself as she reached for the power again. It struggled but she grabbed hold of it forcing it towards her target.

"Calm... remember that all this is just an extension of your will. You don't have to fight it, you just need to know what you want and guild the energy to where it is needed," Danny said as he prepared himself to block any sudden lightning storms that might break out.

Will nodded without opening her eyes and her shoulders started to loosen up. Slowly but surely, sparks moved around her fingers, jumping onto the stone, growing stronger and stronger until the small flashes of light became a much more steady stream of electricity and the stone began to hiss as it heated up.

Will yelped and dropped the red hot stone which fell to the ground where it lay hissing at her like a disturbed snake.

"Oops, guess using a stone might not have been the best idea," Danny said scratching his head.

"You think?" Will grumbled as she blew over her fingers. But the slight burns quickly disappeared.

"Well at least you didn't go crazy this time," Danny said leaning back. "So how about some target practice."

* * *

For the next two hours Danny had Will throwing lightning at glamoured up monsters. At first her aim was rather inelegant, but she slowly improved. But every once and a while she would lose control and destroy a tree or a bush.

"It's a good thing we are on an island, or else you would have probably killed someone by now. That or just destroy the cities power lines," Danny chuckled as Will's lightning reflected off of some water and narrowly missed hitting a seagull.

"Shut up... I'm... I'm doing really well," Will stammered between intakes of air. It sounded like she was trying to convince herself of this fact more than Danny.

"Sure you are," Danny said rolling his eyes, before constructing an image of the disembodied mustache of their history teacher for her to shoot at. "So, when are you going to tell the others about your training? They will probably figure it out sooner or later."

"Don't know... don't care," Will said as she glared at the mustache and shot an unnecessarily large bolt of lightning at it.

"Alright, just wondering," Danny said shrugging. Then his cell phone began to ring. "Hello, Ghost busters, what's the emergency?" Danny joked.

"Danny! Where have you been?" Elyon's voice said, it was a bit static.

"I've just been wondering around. Why, what's the matter?" Danny asked as he sat up.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for hours, there's going to be an event at the bookstore, and we could really use your help setting it up," Elyon said.

"Sure, I'll be right over as fast as I can," Danny said.

"You'd better," Elyon joked. "See you soon," she said and hung up the phone.

"I think we will have to cut this lesson off now," Danny said, floating off the ground and righting himself in midair. "Needless to say, you won't try practicing this on your own. Best you not burn down your house."

"Ha ha," Will laughed dryly as she fell on her back. "Fine." A few seconds passed before Will asked. "Why are you dating Elyon?" She said before she could realize it was probably a dumb idea to. "I mean... you two don't seem to have that much in common. So I was just wondering."

"Why am I..." Danny mumbled, looking up at the sky. "I don't know how to answer that. The heart wants what the heart wants I suppose," he responded with a shrug. Will had to hold in a laugh at the irony of those words. She couldn't decide if it was funny or tragic that he was only in love with the girl because of the Hearts of Tartarus and Meridian being drawn to one and other. What would happen when they found out? "It's probably because she makes me feel Human." Will was a little taken aback by that. Danny had seemed too untouchable, too unique, to be someone that just wanted to feel Human.

Danny noticed the reaction. "Don't tell me you've never thought the same thing? 'If only I was still Human.' 'I would give anything to be Human again.'" Danny said dramatically.

"Hey, I am Human," Will said with a snappy grin. "I can honestly say I've not thought any of those things. I might not be normal anymore, but who cares about normality, it's boring," Will said proudly. "And even if I wasn't Human, it would be a small price to pay to be myself."

Danny was silent for a few moments, as if he was pondering these words. "I should get going. Need to get to the book story and fast," Danny said, floating up into the air and turning invisible before flying off.

"Being myself..." Danny mumbled as he flew towards the city. "Who am I?"

Will watched him go before finally pulling herself out of the sand. "Guess I should go to," she said to herself, but as she turned to leave something caught her eye. It was the book that Danny had been reading before she had arrived. So she picked it up. She would just have to give it to him later.

* * *

 _The entire castle of Troy shook from the sheer force of the battle that lay within it. I was forced to stay airborne as I tried to navigate my way through the halls, just to keep from being knocked to the ground from the tremors that were quickly cracking the stone foundations._

 _Finding the path that my father and the Guardians had taken was fairly easy. The Guardians' level of property damage made even my father look considerate of the servants who would one day have to fix all of this. Scorch marks and puddles littered the halls, and in a few spots entire sections of the walls looked as if they had been ripped off before being dumped on top of the skeleton guards. By comparison, the large gashes left in the stone by my father's more flashy spear attacks could hardly be noticed._

 _I soon found the door to the throne room and found that the door had been torn off its hinges and thrown to the side by massive vines that stretched out of the stone entrance, as if summoned by Gaia herself._

 _As I looked in, I found a battle that was beyond any I had ever heard of. It was as if I was watching the clash between the Titans and Uranus before the first dawn, before the morning sun had ever brightened the skies._

 _Pariah Dark. A massive monster, so large that it would take at least seven full sized men standing on each other's shoulders just to reach his chin. His skin had the color and texture of an elephant's rough gray hide and eyes that had no whites, only a swirling blood red mist that glowed from within._

 _The massive creature wore a heavy pitch black armor with a cape that may very well have once been black until stained red with crimson blood. Waves of dark red energy flowed off of him as he gave an open mouthed laugh, revealing large canine teeth. On top of his flame like green hair was a crown that seemed to be itself on fire._

 _The Guardians of Fire and Wind combined their powers to conjure a massive pillar of fire that crashed into the Pariah, completely hiding him in the intense blue flames. But the Ghost King's laughter didn't die, it only got louder._

 _"You fools think you can beat me!?" He cackled, the flames were pushed away with a wind pushed up from the crimson aura, and a beam of red light came from Pariah's palm knocking the two Guardian's into the wall with such force that the bricks were knocked aside, leaving a hole large enough to guide cattle through._

 _"I know we can!" My father shouted, rushing towards the beast with his spear raised in front of him. Dark purple wisps of power flickering along the surface of the blade as he pushed it up towards Pariah's neck._

 _I couldn't believe my eyes as Pariah grabbed onto the spear head, stopping it as if it was nothing at all. "Do not kid yourself, half breed, you are nothing compared to me," Pariah scoffed as he swung a mass that was four times the size of a mortal man, snapping my father's solid metal spear into pieces as if it was just a twig and sending him flying back through a pillar, sending up a mountain of dust as the stones collapsed on top of him._

 _Before I even had time to panic the stones were pushed aside and my father stood with his usual grin plastered. "Don't underestimate me!" My father shouted, throwing off his cape to blow away the dust before running forward towards the giant._

 _Pariah shifted his weight as if he was going to take a step, but he couldn't. He hadn't noticed the vines coming from the ground that had snaked their way around his legs, holding him in place._

 _"Try this!" My father shouted as he flew up above the Ghost King. He brought his hands together and a ring of white light appeared from his fingers. The handle of a sword came out of the ring, followed by an entire blade as long as my father was tall. My father let out a roar as he brought the blade down towards Pariah's head, purple flames dancing along its edge._

 _But Pariah blocked it with his mace. "A metal core? I'm surprised that a half breed like you has something so rare," Pariah said, with a smug grin that showed his many pointed teeth. "But it is wasted on something as insignificant as you." A ray of red light hit my father in the chest, smashing his chest plate to pieces and sent him flying away from Pariah._

 _Then Pariah looked down at the vines and followed them with his red eyes until he spotted the Guardian of Earth. He grinned as the vines burst into flames and fell away from his body as nothing more than dust. Then he quickly closed the distance between himself and the Earth Guardian before the woman could move._

 _Her scream only lasted a moment as the mace came down on her, crushing her entire body._

 _"Lung!" Xin Jing gave a cry of despair as the mace was pulled away to show a mess of torn flesh and splattered blood, not even recognizable as once having a human shape. "You... You bastard!" Xin Jing shouted as she flew up with the Guardian of Water._

 _A stream of water appeared out of the second woman's hands and hit Pariah head on, but he didn't even react, not until the leader of the Guardians threw lightning into the water._

 _Pariah gave out a scream of pain that shook what was left of the castle. But then he stopped and grinned. He flew straight at the two woman and batted the Water Guardian aside with his mace before grabbing Xin Jing in his left hand and crushing her legs in his grip._

 _Xin Jing gave out a shrill scream at the pain of it all, but I could hardly hear it over Pariah's laughter. "You thought you could defeat me!? I had power far surprising yours even before I gained possession of the Heart of Darkness! But I will thank you! For you have brought me a very generous gift," Pariah said as he lifted his right hand and pointed a sickly green ring towards the pink stone that was around Xin Jing's neck. A beam of green light shot out of the ring and struck the gem, and it was as if the gem itself was screaming in agony as the light began to be pulled from it..._

* * *

Will nearly jumped out of her chair as the alarm went off on her kitchen stove. She quickly grabbed a pair of oven mites and pulled out the roast chickens that were going to be her and her mom's dinner once her mother got back from work.

The chicken was a little burnt, but it was still better than anything Will's mom could make. "Well that's just great," Will said as she collapsed onto her couch. She hadn't realized what the book was about when she first started to read it, but as the pieces fell into place the whole thing had drawn her in and nearly an hour and a half had passed by without her noticing.

"So that's what Yan Lin meant when she said that Kandrakar, Tartarus, and Earth had a bloody history together," Will mumbled to herself as she place a hand over her eyes to try to shield out the light coming from the window.

'Are you hoping for an army to come to your aid, Achilles?... I am afraid that Kandrakar does not send such things to planets like this one...' Those words had jumped out at her. Will couldn't help but wonder what kind of place Kandrakar was. She had never been there, in fact, until just a week ago, she hadn't even known it existed.

She briefly considered asking Yan Lin about it, but she knew what the elder Guardian would say. 'Patience. Good things come to people who wait.' The whole 'follow the wind' thing was starting to get on Will's nerves, no matter how much respect she had for the former Guardian.

Part of her wanted to pick the book back up and read it to the end. But the other part felt scared of what she might find. Not to mention, the story was making her really tense, and she was still sore from the afternoon's training.

"Maybe I just need some music to calm me down," Will said running a hand through her hair. She didn't notice the blue sparks as her heightened emotions triggered her newly awakened powers.

She got up and walked over to the old stereo that her mom had bought and a garage sale and pressed the play button. The electricity flowed from her hand and into the electronic device which began to freak out as the digital display and the sound system went crazy. Will backed up in shock. "Man, I knew we shouldn't have gotten this 'pre-owned' thing," Will grumbled.

Then the blinking stopped and some old fashioned soul music began to play. This was all weird enough, but the weird gauge broke through the roof when the stereo began to talk.

"Oooooh yeah, Big Jimmy got soul," it said in a deep voice as he began to hum to the music. Will standing by with only one thought in her head. 'Why did it have to be soul?'

* * *

Danny was bored. He couldn't even image how he had managed to go from watching someone shooting bolts of lightning through disembodied mustaches to listening to boring poetry in just two hours.

"Two towns... two towns... blab bla bla blaaa..." The words of the current speaker were quickly losing him. He started to consider using his powers on the man just to make the world a more colorful place.

Elyon seemed not to mind though, so he tried to struggle through it like a good boyfriend, but he was starting to wonder if that was a smart idea. Listening to boring poetry today, watching Twilight tomorrow. No! Danny was pretty sure he would draw the line before Twilight ever came within ear shot.

Though that the line was going to be drawn soon when Marten stood up and was preparing to read something he had wrote about Irma. 'Oh merciful deities, please help me.' Danny prayed with eyes held closed as the wheezing nerd took his first long intake of breath and looked down at his three page poem.

And to Danny's everlasting amazement his phone went off. 'Oh thank you sweet baby Jesus.' He said as he got up and apologized as he went to take the call. "Spirit barbecue, for when one cremation isn't quite enough, how can I help you," Danny quipped into his phone.

"Danny, you need to get over here right now!" Will seemed to be shouting into her phone in panic over some very loud and obnoxious music in the back ground. "My stereo came to life and I don't know what to do!"

"Your what came to what?" Danny said he tried to imagine the situation. He was having to hold in his laughter.

"Just get over here! Before my mom gets home!" Will shouted angrily before hanging up.

Danny gave a sigh of relief as he walked over to Elyon and leaned over to her ear. "Got an emergency I have to deal with. I'll see you later," he whispered to her. And before she could say anything he was off.

"Danny..." Elyon said a little disappointed as she watched him go. He had been acting differently the last few days. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but he seemed to be in better spirits ever since the invisible pigs wrecked the school.

She remembered him speaking to Will the morning after, how she also seemed to be acting differently, more tired as if she had been staying up later than before. Elyon shook her head. She was just reading into things too much.

Or at least, that's what she kept trying to convince herself.

* * *

"Come on little lady, why ain't you dancing for Big Jimmy," the stereo said as it blared the old fashioned music at an unnecessary loud volume.

"Urg, would you just be quiet! I don't like soul music!" Will complained as she held her hands over her ears. "How are you even playing this!? I don't even own any of this stuff!"

"Big Jimmy's got his ways, but you'd need to do Big Jimmy and big favor before he lets you in on his secret," the stereo said in a manner that made Will back away from the thing.

"Danny, where are you?" She whimpered.

"Seems like someone needs remedial lessons on how to sense someone's presence," Will whipped around to see Danny sitting on her couch behind her.

Will was both relieved and incredibly annoyed by Danny's sudden appearance. "How am I supposed to sense anything when I can't even hear myself think!" She shouted over the music.

"Oh baby, don't be like that," the stereo said, sounding a little hurt.

"Shut up Jimmy!" Will shouted at the stereo.

"It's 'Big' Jimmy, you got to say the whole thing," Big Jimmy said.

"Well I'll be, you really did manage to bring your stereo to life, congrats," Danny joked learning back. "Not the weirdest thing I've even seen come to life, but he is funny."

"Danny! Please take this seriously. How did this happen?" Will said angrily. "And more importantly how do I stop it? I've tried unplugging him, but it didn't do a thing."

"Well of course it didn't do a thing. Big Jimmy is running off of your Quintessence powers. As for why he is acting like a living thing... well Quintessence is just a type of Aether, the basic essence of a soul," Danny said, thinking about the thing.

"Oooh yeah, Big Jimmy is all about that Soul," the stereo said, causing Danny to laugh.

"Danny this isn't funny. Help me get rid of it before my mom gets home," Will said angrily.

"Oh come on, this is pretty funny. Hey, can you do hard rock? Dumpty Humpty maybe?" Danny asked the stereo.

"No man, I don't do any of that garbage. Big Jimmy only plays the soul music," the Stereo said, before it started humming to the music it was playing.

Danny's grin fell. No one insulted his music. "Alright fine, we'll get rid of it."

"Oh, the white boy thinks he can stop Big Jimmy from playing Big Jimmy's tones? Get lost sucker, before Big Jimmy has to pop a cap in your white... butt," the stereo mocked.

Danny got off the couch, walked forward and placed a hand on the stereo. His eyes momentarily glowed green and Will could see his Aether moving into the stereo, the green aura wrapping around the pink that had come from her and pulling it out. The music stopped and the display went black.

"All you have to do is use your own Aether to pull the device's Aether out. Easy enough," Danny said, turning to the girl with the usual expression of superiority that got under her skin.

"Oh yeah, for anyone who's had a year's practice with this stuff," Will said crossing her arms. But she was finally able to hear herself think again. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem, but I think I'll be going before your mom gets here. Rather not have to deal with that awkwardness," Danny said turning towards a window, but he spotted the book laying on the coffee table. "Hey isn't that..?"

Will followed his gaze and then remembered it. "Oh yeah, you left it back on the island, so I took it with me to give back to you later," Will said for some reason feeling as if it had been Danny's diary she had been reading instead of the story of a man long dead.

"Well it served its purpose. I'm not really that interested in finishing it," Danny said with a shrug. "You keep it, maybe you'll learn something more about your powers that I overlooked."

"Um... thanks," Will said not sure whether or not she wanted to finish reading it. She was divided between a desire to know more and a revulsion to the realness of it all. One of the Guardians in the story had already died. Will had no idea what she would do if it ever came to that.

But Will's thoughts changed direction when she heard the front door open and her mother calling out, "Will? Honey you home?"

Will turned to the door into the living room to see her mother coming in. "Oh mom... hey," She said nervously glancing at Danny to see that he had turned invisible and the outline of his Aether was the only thing she could see of him.

"Hi sweetie, sorry I had to stay late at work today," Susan Vandom said as she put down her purse and stretched out in one of the side chairs.

"Tha... that's ok mom, I've already made dinner," Will said trying to pretend Danny was not there.

"Oh, thank you my puffy perky pooky pumpkin," Susan said pulling her daughter in for a hug.

Will was mortified. "Mom..." She moaned as she felt Danny putting up a glamour to hide his laughter.

"What? I thought you didn't mind me still calling you that when it's just us," Susan said innocently before moving off to the Kitchen. Will glared at a Danny who was halfway out of the wall before sighing and following her mother to dinner.

After eating, Will had gone to watch TV. She was disappointed to find that absolutely nothing worth watching was on to distract her from the book that lay on the table top in front of her. Finely after twenty minutes of trying to resist, she picked up the book and went back to her room.

* * *

 _Pink light was being pulled out of the Guardian's jewel and towards the Ghost King's ring. Xin Jing tried to struggle but she was in too much pain from having her legs crushed in between Pariah's massive fingers._

 _As a watched, the purple and blue clothes that clothed the Guardian seemed to flicker in and out of existence, being replaced by a still outlandish pink silk dress. Xin Jing's cries of pain echoed in the ruined castle as Pariah laughed._

 _But before the pink light could be pulled all the way back to the ring, a silver arrow the size of a small man flew through the air and into Pariah's left eye._

 _Pariah let out a deafening scream and dropped Xin Jing in order to try to pull the metal bolt from his eye._

 _"Hey hey! You didn't forget about me did you?!" My father shouted from the far side of the room. He was holding a metal bow were even the string was made of a silvery metal. He raised his free hand and a second arrow appeared which he strung to the bow, using his strength that was beyond any other Human to pull the arrow back and fire it at Pariah with enough force to knock down walls. But Pariah's red aura twisted up in front of him to form a shield, blocking the incoming attack._

 _My father sent arrow after arrow smashing into the magical shield until Pariah lifted his mace and bright emerald flames shot out of it, requiring my father to jump out of the way of the oncoming attack._

 _"You insect, who do you think you are!" Pariah boomed as he turned to my father, forgetting all the others in his rage._

 _"Who do I think I am!? I know who I am!" My father shouted back standing proud in the face of the giant monster that stood before him. "Now listen up, when people talk about the badass immortal hero of Greece, they are talking about me, the great Achilles, Leader of the Myrmidon, and don't you forget it."_

 _My father tossed his bow to the side and flew straight for Pariah. Pariah pulled back his mace and made for a wide swing, but my father dodged it before making a short sword appear out of thin air and going for a strike on Pariah's left arm. But the black armor that covered him was too thick and the tip of my Father's sword simply broke on the outer shell._

 _But my father wasn't about to give up there, so he jumped from Pariah's lower arm and used the broken sword to try to take Pariah's remaining eye._

 _Pariah swung up his free hand which caught my father in the stomach and throw him back so that his strike only grazed the skin around the eye instead of cutting it out. My father flew into a wall but this time he found himself being rained down upon by spheres of crimson death fired from Pariah's hand._

 _I heard my father giving a shout of pain as he was hit again and again. "You worthless half breed, how dare you injure me!" Pariah shouted as he shot blast after blast of the deadly energy. "I'll erase you from existence!"_

 _I felt numb as I watched. But when Pariah finally stopped and the dust settled, my father was still standing. Red and green blood dripped out the multitude of cuts that littered his body, but a massive grin still lay upon his face. "Is that all... all you got? I hardly felt it," my father said through small gasps of suppressed pain._

 _"Why won't you just die?!" Pariah shouted._

 _"You can't kill what I am. I am the hero of this world, a beacon of manly spirit to which all those who still hold on to the light of hope gather so that the shadow will be forced to fall before our glow," my father replied as he summoned another spear. "I shall cast you out Pariah, and nothing will stop me!"_

 _My father took to the air again and rushed for the Ghost King. But he was too dazed to register the hand that came up to bat him aside. He flew through yet another support beam._

 _"You fool, the spirit of man is weak. Insignificant before the might of the Ghosts," Pariah said with a scoff, but his remaining eye widened as my father started to struggle to get back up. Pariah gritted his teeth. "I will finish you for good this time," he said angrily lifting his mace and moving towards my father who was still only on his knees. "That is where you belong. On your knees before me. Maybe if you beg, I will spare you."_

 _My father gasped a few times to push down the pain but then he looked up with the same grin he always wore. "Right back at you," he said as Pariah raised his mace._

 _"Father no!" I shouted and throw as strong a blast of magic as I could. The bolt of green power hit Pariah, but the monster didn't even flinch from the impact. He turned slowly towards me._

 _"Father? Oh so this is your son," he said, an evil grin spreading across his face to reveal his sharpened teeth. "Perhaps this will break that obnoxious spirit of yours," Pariah said and took a step towards me._

 _"No! Pyrrhus, run!" My father said, panicking for the first time._

 _"Oh I don't think he will run," Pariah said as a dark red mist washed over me. I felt fear like nothing I had ever imagined. I couldn't even move a finger as the giant walked towards me. "And the son shall go first."_

 _He lifted up his mace and I could do nothing but watch, fear paralyzing my body. The mace started its decent upon my head and I clenched my eyes closed._

 _The sound of metal striking against metal rang through the room. I slowly opened my eyes and was shocked to find my father standing between me and Pariah. His dark purple aura had grown to a level beyond anything I had ever seen of it before, it wrapped around his entire body like purple flames as he held back Pariah's attack with a pitch black shield._

 _"Wha..." Pariah started, but that was as far as he got before my father took three steps forward and punched the Ghost King in the gut, sending him flying across the room and breaking a hole the size of a light shield in Pariah's breastplate._

 _"Stay away from my son, Pariah," my father said, his voice was ringing like a bell in my ears as he looked taller and stronger than ever before me._

 _"Father..." I managed to say through the awe that had pushed all sense of fear from my body._

 _"Get back Pyrrhus, I'll handle this," he said, throwing me a grin. "I am the immortal badass after all." I nodded and moved back some more. "Alright Pariah! Ready or not I'm coming for you!" My father jumped into the air and flew straight at Pariah, a black short sword forming in his hand as he flew._

 _The two did battle again, only this time my father's power was matching Pariah's own. The giant Ghost was even being pushed back. Eventually my father managed to knock up Pariah's mace and kicked the Ghost King in the chest hard enough to send him flying back and through both the throne and the wall behind it._

 _"How... how is this possible? You're a mere half breed! How can you stand up to the King of Tartarus!?" Pariah screamed in rage._

 _"I wouldn't care if you were the King of the entire universe! Because you threatened my family and friends, and they are my universe!" My father shouted as his dark purple aura grew more and more until it created a wall of purple mist behind him. Blades began to push themselves out of the mist, all pointing at Pariah. "So I can't let you live Pariah!"_

 _The blades flew from the mist, falling upon Pariah Dark like a sheet of rain. The Ghost King did his best to try to shield himself but as the hundreds upon hundreds of blades rammed into him his armor began to be chiseled away and his body was impaled with blades from his chin to his toes._

 _"Never mess with humanity," my father said through his pants. He fell to one knee gasping for breath._

 _"No..." Pariah coughed and took a step forward. "I won't lose... I cannot lose my right to something like you."_

 _But then three cables of blue wrapped themselves around Pariah in order to hold him still. One around each arm and the last around his neck. Three of the four remaining Guardians were using their powers to restrain Pariah._

 _Xin Jing flew up to Pariah and quickly pulled the ring off of his hand. The Ghost King tried to give a cry of rage, but he only managed a whimper._

 _"Pariah Dark, for your crimes you shall be locked away for all of eternity, where you can no longer harm others," Xin Jing said as a rip in space appeared and the sarcophagus emerged from it. Pariah was pulled into the tomb and the lid shut over him. Sealing him away forever._

 _"Father!" I shouted, running to my father's side._

 _"Hey Pyrrhus, glad you got to see my big moment," my dad said grinning, but he was holding his side and one of his eyes was closed to block out the mixed green and red blood that was dripping into it._

 _"Father, you're hurt," I said, pointing out the obvious in my panic._

 _"Yeah... but I'll be fine. Let's get back to the others," my father said, turning and walking towards the torn open door, trying to look as cool as he could. A ring of white light appeared around his waist and returned him to his more Human appearance. I had never felt more proud. My father was the greatest hero who had ever lived._

 _But then a bolt of pale blue lightning came down and passed through my father's chest. He staggered and fell to the ground. "Father!" I screamed running to him. I turned him over to look down. There was a burn on his chest, right over his heart. His final smile still plastered to his face. My father was dead._

 _"I am sorry Achilles, but the Counsel of Kandrakar deemed you to be too dangerous to be allowed to live," I turned my head to see the Guardians flying behind me, holding the sarcophagus between two of them. "Even you are only mortal when in your Human form," those were her last words as a rip opened up in the air behind and swallowed the group. Leaving me alone with my father, and my hate._

 _It was there that I swore that I would one day have vengeance on Kandrakar and its dogs. Even if it takes me all of time, I will see them pay for their betrayal._

* * *

The book fell from between Will's fingers and hit the ground with a light thud. She couldn't believe what she had just read. She had always assumed that Kardrakar was good. But that assumption now seemed so childish to her.

She couldn't even imagine what she would think if ordered to kill Danny, or Elyon. She wouldn't do it, she would never. It didn't matter who told her to or why.

Yan Lin was right, Kandrakar, Earth, and Tartarus had a bloody, bloody history together.


	6. Chapter 6

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

 **Edited by Xbox432**

* * *

Phobos was enjoying a long refreshing bath within the dark pool beneath the depths of his castle. A bath that was literally sucking the life-force away from the world of Meridian in order to refuel Phobos's own powers. Something that always weighed heavily on Phobos's mind.

Not that the dark monarch ever cared about the people of Meridian. He was their ruler, so he could do whatever he wished with them. That's what they were for. It was the only reason they were allowed to continue to exist.

But as each day went by the springs refueled him less and less and the mystic power of Meridian waned without its Heart to sustain it. The need to bring his sister to Meridian had never been greater. Her powers would be able to fuel Phobos for all of time.

Luckily, it wouldn't be long before his plans would be set into motion. "My Prince," Cedric said as he entered the darkened room in his Human like form. "I have successfully obtained your sister's breath," Cedric reported holding up a balloon from the store's decorations.

Phobos grinned as he stepped out of the water. "Good, now we can continue with our plans," Phobos said walking past Cedric to grab a towel to drape around himself. "Sow the seeds of mistrust and depression within my sister so that you may tell her who she is during the height of the enchantment and bring her to me."

"And... the Ghost King?" Cedric asked, trying to keep the worry from his voice.

"Do not worry, I have a plan for how to deal with him," Phobos said with an evil grin. "You only have to worry about keeping the Guardians away from my sister until the time comes."

"Then, may I make a suggestion?" Cedric said in his cool voice. "I am sure that if we spread word of a mass execution of political prisoners, than the Guardians will coming running. Perhaps we will even be able to finish them for good this time."

Phobos grinned. "Yes... I like it," he said, and then he started to laugh. Soon all his wishes would be a reality.

* * *

Will hadn't been able to sleep. Every time she tried to close her eyes she was haunted by images of herself firing lightning through Danny's back.

The idea of that level of betrayal, to someone who had helped you so much, simply out of some fear of that person's race was... it was un-American.

Kandrakar. Why would they have ordered something so heartless? The truth was, Will knew nothing about Kandrakar; not about its people, its culture, its history, nothing. And the more she thought about things, the more they didn't add up. Why did Kandrakar put up a Veil around Meridian? At the time Phobos must have been only twelve years old, surely they could have just overthrown the Prince and saved the people from those years of suffering, but instead they just used their power to cut Meridian off from the rest of the universe, as if it was some kind of plague camp where there was no cure.

She couldn't exactly wonder if she was fighting on the right side. After all, she had seen the living conditions in Meridian and all the horrible things that Phobos's men did to the people. But it did make her wonder why Yan Lin had never told them anything, and why the Heart of Kandrakar was on Earth in the first place. Maybe they were just pawns in a game far bigger than themselves.

She wanted to talk to someone about it, but running through the list of people she could talk to just gave her a headache. Yan Lin might have been the ideal choice before, but the ex-Guardian rarely answered any of her questions and she didn't even know if she could trust her, not anymore.

Hay Lin would go to her grandmother if Will told her, and Irma was a blabber mouth. Cornelia already seemed to hate Danny, so she was probably not the best person to go to. And Taranee was too afraid of Ghosts to listen. She could talk to Danny himself, but the idea of saying that someone like her once murdered someone like him in cold blood, using the powers he just helped her gain control of, didn't feel like a very good topic of conversation. She didn't want to risk the friendship she had with her mentor.

As Will saw it, she had only one other option, Caleb. The boy rebel was used to keeping secrets. And even if he was a friend and ally, he wasn't directly connected to Kandrakar. And even better yet, he was open minded about Danny being a Ghost and could provide insight into Meridian's involvement with Kandrakar.

So she decided that she would try to talk to Caleb about it the next chance she got. Since it was either talking to him about it or Blunk.

Will nearly jumped out of her skin when Hay Lin placed a hand on her shoulder. "Oh wow, you're sure jumpy this morning," Hay Lin giggled cheerfully.

"Will, you alright? You look a bit pale?" Irma said as she sat down next to Will underneath the tree in front of the school. They had about thirty minutes before first period started, so they were hanging out in front of the school, just like some other students. "You know if you're sick, you might want to just go home. Then again, you might want to even if you aren't sick. Dissection labs are today."

"Uh, don't remind me," Cornelia shuddered. "I hate worms."

"Aren't you supposed to be the Guardian of Earth? Why do you have some much trouble with 'earth' worms?" Irma said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm fine guys, I just didn't get a very good night's sleep," Will said leaning back against the tree and closing her eyes again. She really didn't want to hear Cornelia and Irma arguing at the moment. "I... I read a really depressing book and lost sleep thinking about it, that's all. Trust me when I say, you really don't want to know," Will said, rubbing her temples as an image of Danny being shot in the back moved through her mind again.

"Alright just don't push yourself," Hay Lin said gently.

But Will didn't have a choice whether or not to push herself, because the Guardians had a job to do. She knew that the moment Caleb rounded the corner of the school gates and made eye contact with them.

* * *

"So what's the four one one?" Will asked the rebel leader once they had moved to a more secluded spot.

"Trouble in Meridian, Phobos is planning on killing off political prisoners. Over a hundred people in all. Every last one of them a member of the resistance or the former Queen's imperial guard who spoke up against Phobos," Caleb reported. "They are to be killed in a mass execution today at noon, by feeding them to Gramorn Tunnel Roaches," the girls squirmed at the name. But Caleb hardly noticed as he looked to the ground. "Our spies say... that my father is among them."

The girls' eyes widened in shock. They had never heard anything about Caleb's father. "I had thought he was dead, but he is counted on the list of prisoners to be executed," Caleb said miserably. "I don't know whether to be glad my father is alive, or terrified that he could die."

Cornelia placed a hand on Caleb's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get him back," she said, trying to comfort the young rebel leader.

"Yep, then you guys can have your tear filled reunion," Hay Lin said cheerfully. Caleb gave them a grateful smile and nod.

"So what are we waiting for, let's go kick some bad guy but," Irma said, punching an open hand.

"Hold on a second Irma, we need to make astral drops to take our place at school, or else we will be in serious trouble when we get back," Taranee reminded them.

Will winced a little. She hated using the astral drops. Leaving someone else in her place to live her life while she was gone. Even if there memories merged together after the astral drop was gone, it still felt strange and wrong.

They all gathered around the Heart of Kandrakar and touched a part of the cored necklace. As they all concentrated the Heart glowed bright pink and five pockets of energy fell from it moving a short distance away before forming the girls astral drops, each physically identical to one of the five Guardians.

Though to say that they were completely identical would be a small stretch. The astral drops lacked the girls' powers and even if they had all the same memories, their personalities were slightly different due to the fact that they were not affected by being Guardians. But they were close enough to the originals to fool even close family members.

That is, except for one person. Will looked at the group of astral drops and noticed that all of them had rather weak Aethers. Most likely because they were never meant to be permanent, just lasting long enough for the girls to do their jobs before returning to the Heart of Kandrakar to rest.

Will could only think one thing as she followed Caleb to where the portal was. 'There is no way Danny will fall for it.'

* * *

It felt like walking through a dream. Everything seeming so familiar, as if she had seen it a thousand times before. But at the same time everything was so foreign to her, as if experienced for the very first time.

This was how it felt for Will's astral drop as she moved through the halls of the school before class, alongside Cornelia's astral drop.

"Urg, why did it have to be on dissection day?" Cornelia's astral drop whined as the two astral drops went to their original's lockers. "Maybe I should just play sick and try to get sent home."

"Come on isn't not that bad," Will's astral drop said as she finally jiggled the rusty locker's door open. "Would you rather be in Cornelia's shoes and having to deal with giant man eating roaches?"

Cornelia's astral drop shuddered. "Alright, you got a good point there," the blonde astral drop said as she put away a backpack and pulled out a biology book.

Will's astral drop smiled a little at how easy it was to distract this Cornelia. But that smile quickly disappeared when a new thought in the blonde astral drop's head caused an odd question to be asked. "So is Will still crushing on Matt, or is she crushing on Danny now? Oh or is it both?"

Will's astral drop blinked in surprise. Without the weight of being a Guardian of the Veil on her mind, this Cornelia was even more of a gossip queen than her original was. "No, she's definitely still 'crushing' on Matt," Will's astral drop said with a bit of a blush, since that crush was one of the many things she shared with her original.

"Really? Odd, I always thought she had something for that Ghost 'King'. I mean, she's always so defensive about him," Cornelia's astral drop said as they started for their biology classroom. "If she did I wouldn't blame her that much, he does has a mysterious air about him."

Will's astral drop had to stop herself from laughing. 'Mysterious' would not have been Will's word to describe Danny. The boy was rather transparent, no pun intended, never really hiding his opinions or emotions. 'Childish', 'arrogant', 'experienced', those were the words that Will would have used.

"I thought Cornelia had a crush on Caleb, so why are your eyes wondering?" Will's astral drop teased back.

"Oh Caleb is definitely much better looking," Cornelia's astral drop said. "But he's taking so long. Surely he doesn't expect Cornelia to ask 'him' out," The blonde astral drop said, throwing back her long hair in the same way Cornelia always did.

"Surely," Will's astral drop said, rolling her eyes yet again.

They entered their classroom to see Danny sitting with Elyon. The two seemed to be laughing about something or other, but as Danny's eyes scanned over the people who were coming in before he raised an eyebrow.

'Of course he knows,' Will's astral drop thought with a sigh as she went to sit down in Will's seat. She could only hope that things weren't about to get complicated.

* * *

Phobos's prison. A large domed fortress that held his political prisoners. And that day, it was also home to an entire army, just waiting for the rebels and the Guardian's to make a move.

"It looks like this was all a trap," Hay Lin said looking over at the domed fortress through her binoculars from the hill they were using as a vantage point.

"We already knew it was a trap. That doesn't change the fact that we have to do this," Caleb said, clenching his fists. "But it does change how we do it."

"What's the plan?" Will asked.

"We use a distraction to draw all the guards out to the prison's front gates, and then we tunnel in from below the main structure from the infinite city," Caleb said starting to push himself up.

"So Cornelia needs to be down in the infinite city," Taranee said. "That leave me, Hay Lin and Irma to distract all those guards."

"Hey, what about me?" Will said a little angry.

"Um... you should probably go with Corny and Caleb, in case she needs back up," Irma said, trying to be tactful, but Will got the message, they thought she was the weakest of the group and that she would just get in the way. But today was going to be the day that she proved them all wrong.

* * *

"Alright class, now that we've gone over the equipment and safety, I want you to go to your lab tables and wait for me to bring out the pickled worms," Mr. Cabot said in his monotone voice.

"Danny, let's be partners," Elyon said, a little cheerful considering the situation.

"Alright, sounds good to me," Danny said, but Cornelia's astral drop freaked.

"What? But you're my lab partner, Elyon. Please don't leave me in my time of need," She said rather over dramatically.

"But Cornelia..." Elyon whined but they had already caught the teacher's attention.

"Is there a problem here?" He asked calmly.

"It's nothing, I just want to be Danny's partner," Elyon said quickly.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Brown, but partners were decided on at the beginning of the semester. Mr. Fenton will just have to be with Mrs. Vandom since this is the first lab for both of them," Mr. Cabot said shifting his spectacles.

Elyon wanted to object but the teacher just walked off. Cornelia's astral drop gave a say of relief.

"Guess it's me and you then," Danny said looking at Will's astral drop who nodded nervously.

They went to a lab table and got to work after the materials were handed out. In the beginning they worked in relative silence before Danny finally spoke up.

"So, where's fairy girl ran off to? Need to fight a giant six legged toad or something?" Danny asked not looking away from his work with the scalpel.

"Giant man eating roaches," Will's astral drop replied.

"Uh, sorry I asked," Danny with a fake gagging sound. "Hope she remembers that you can't intimidate insects using Aether. Chemical based brain signals rather than electric."

"Oh... yeah... she probably doesn't remember that," Will's astral drop said, a little flustered since she herself hadn't remembered.

"Hmm. Well hope that doesn't bite her in the butt, literally," Danny said as he pinned down the worm's outer skin to expose the hearts and digestive trails. "So, do you have a name?"

"What?" Will's astral drop asked a bit surprised as she started sketching out watch they were looking out.

"Well you aren't Will herself. So I was just wondering if you have a name of your own or if you would like for me to just call you Will," Danny said with a shrug.

"I... I don't really have a name of my own," Will's astral drop said, thinking about the concept. "I haven't really thought about it. Astral drops are supposed to be like mirrors of our originals. But I suppose it might be nice to have my own name."

"Well, Will's real name is Wilhelmina right?" Danny said.

Will's astral drop winced. "Please tell me you aren't planning on calling me that."

Danny chuckled a bit. "No, no, but how about Mia? If she's using the first part, you can use the last."

"Mia... yeah, I think I can live with that," Mia said nodding.

"Alright then, Mia it is," Danny said before returning to work. He kept up a certain level of small talk with the astral drop girl, making jokes and talking about normal things.

Mia was surprised, Danny was treating her like a normal person, even though he knew that she was just a reflection.

Elyon looked over from her table with Cornelia's astral drop to see the two laughing at a joke about 'Big Jimmy'. "They sure seem cheery," Elyon said a little jealously.

"Who does?" Cornelia's astral dropped asked and looked over to see Will's astral drop flushing as she looked at Danny. "I knew there was something going on between them!" She said with a certain amount of victorious cheer, until she realized her mistake. "I mean..." She mumbled as she looked to Elyon who looked hurt. Was Danny cheating on her?

* * *

Will was walking through the infinite city along with Caleb and Cornelia. She had the Heart of Kandrakar held out in front of her, both for light and to guild the way. The rest of the girls of WITCH were all hiding in the clouds directly above. So Will was able to track their position by using the Heart of Kandrakar.

Will stopped as the Heart pulled straight upwards. "Alright, we're directly under the prison," she said as she put away the Heart.

Caleb pulled out a hand held walkie-talkie. "We're in position, so get started," he said into the hand held.

"Got it," Irma replied quickly.

The group in the underground city waited a few seconds before getting started, since they didn't want any guards to hear them. But then Cornelia began to dig using her powers over earth.

Cornelia had been digging for five minutes before Will decided that this was as good a chance as any to talk to Caleb.

"Hey Caleb, can I... talk to you about something?" Will said not really sure where to begin.

"Is now really the best time?" Caleb said with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you have anything better to do?" Will pointed out. The boy scratched his head, too proud to say no, so Will just continued. "I kind of found a book that had a record of a war on Earth a long time ago. One that the Guardians were a part of."

"That shouldn't be that surprising. The Guardian's do live on Earth after all," Caleb said not impressed.

"At the end of the war they killed Earths hero, murdered him while his back was turned. Apparently under orders from Kandrakar," Will said angrily.

This got a bit more of a reaction. "They did what?"

"They murdered someone who helped them beat the Ghost King. Someone who saved their lives. They killed him in cold blood while his back was turned, all because Kandrakar thought that he was a threat," Will said giving a brief summery. "I guess what I want to know is, do you know anything about Kandrakar? Because even after the last month, I still know absolutely nothing about them. Why is everything so secretive? How do I know that we aren't going to free Meridian from Phobos, only for some evil dictator from Kandrakar to just come down and take over?" She paused for a moment before add. "I don't want to get the other girls involved in this, or confront Yan Lin just yet. Not until I have some more to go on."

Caleb nodded. "I understand how you feel, but I'm afraid that I'm not the one to help you with this. The Guardians first came to Meridian over twenty years before I was even born, in order to explore the newly discovered Infinite City," Caleb said, gesturing to the endless room that expanded out around them. "But I don't think anyone from Kandrakar itself came. Just the Guardians."

"Great back to square one then," Will said with a sigh.

"Maybe not. My father was supposed to have acted as their guide. So there is a good chance that he knows more than I do," Caleb said looking up at the lengthening hole that would lead them into the prison and to his father. "All we need to do is save him."

As if on cue, Cornelia's voice called down to them. "I've broken through!"

"Well then, let's get this over with," Will said grabbing Caleb under the arm and flew him up. It was time to show everyone how much she had improved.

* * *

The darkness pressed down around Will's group as they entered the basement area of Phobos's prisons without the strange light of the Infinite City which seemed to radiate from the pillars themselves. The air was stagnant and smelled so strongly of decay that the young heroes had to struggle not to lose their breakfasts.

"Oh gosh that smells," Cornelia coughed, covering her mouth with one hand. "How long has it been since they cleaned this place?"

"Cornelia, we need to be quiet. We're trying to be stealthy remember," Caleb reminded the girl as quietly as he could.

"I think it's too late for that," Will said looking around them and seeing a mist of rather weak Aethers. "We're surround by something, but they're too weak for me to tell what they are," she said. She could have sworn she hear Danny making a smug comment about her abilities in the back of her mind. The individual Aether's were weak, but they were moving rapidly. Several approaching the small group.

"Will, what are you talking about I can't see a..." that was as far as Cornelia got before Will threw up a shield around the three of them. Cornelia was shocked at seeing the semitransparent pink shield, but then she screamed as she saw what was outside of it.

Dozens, maybe even hundreds of giant brown roaches were crawling all over the bright pink shield. "Wha... what are those things!?" Cornelia shrieked.

"Gramorn Tunnel Roaches," Caleb said, sounding a bit sick about the idea himself. "We must have come up in the execution pit."

"Oh, just great," Will joked as she looked around and noticed some of them moving for the hole they came in from. "Cornelia, we can't let them get into the Underground City, block the hole," Will instructed. She wasn't finding it that difficult to stay calm. Compared to that Ghost Dog that Danny had chasing after her for three hours straight, these bugs weren't really all that scary, and the practice really did help with the nerves. The weight of the roaches against her shield felt like almost nothing at all compared to one of Danny's strikes.

"Oh, right," Cornelia said, before causing a rock-slide that covered up the hole before the roaches could get through.

"Alright, now we just have to get out of here. Any ideas?" Will asked hoping that someone else might.

"We'll just have to make another hole above us and hope that it turns out better than last time," Caleb said, pointing towards the roof.

"Got it," Cornelia said as she begin to concentrate on the roof. "hope this shield of yours can survive a few rocks." As she said that the rock ceiling broke and stones came down on them knocking off several of the roaches as a hole appeared through which a thin shaft of light came through.

"Time to make a break for it. Cornelia, grab Caleb, the moment I release the shield we fly," Will said as she concentrated her power within the shield. It was another little trick that Danny had taught her for helping when you were surrounded. The edge of the shield began to waver as it reached a critical mass of energy. Then Will tried to compress the shield to increase the pressure inside to be greater than the pressure outside.

The shield gave way and burst outwards with a violent pop and blasted away all the roaches that had been climbing on it. Then before the roaches could react, both Will and Cornelia went for the opening in the ceiling, Cornelia closing it behind them.

"Well that was fun, but it looks like we're going to have to find another way out," Will joked as she looked down at the caved in tunnel to make sure they weren't followed.

"Since when can you make a shield like that one?" Cornelia asked know that they were out of danger.

"For the last three days or so... right after Danny taught me to," Will said taking a bit of satisfaction in Cornelia's reaction.

"You were with Danny? Alone? What if he had tried something?" Cornelia said a little angry.

"I'm not going to explain myself to you. Danny is a friend," Will snapped back.

"Hey, can we get on with this rescue mission?" Caleb said from a few feet ahead of them at the bottom of a set of stairs that snaked its way up the inside of the prison. Cornelia scowled at Will but she just moved on, it was true, they had a job to do.

* * *

"Archers! Fire!" Frost shouted from the top of his rhino mount to the hundreds of guards that had been positioned to stop the Guardians. A large volley of arrows flew into the air towards the three Guardians that flew around the prison. But the Guardian of Air just blew the arrows away. "Something isn't right here," Frost mumbled to the Tracker. "Where are the other Guardians?"

The Zombie like robbed creature looked towards Frost as it made a loud exhaling sound that could be taken as an agreement.

"So these three are just a distraction. While the others used another route to get inside," Frost said, turning around on his mount and motioned for a group of guards to follow him as he went back into the prison with the Tracker at his side with his evil blood hound.

This was going to be Frost's last chance to prove that he was more capable than Cedric when it came to taking out the Guardians, and he was not going to fail a second time.

* * *

Julian couldn't say how long he had been in that prison, each day that passed simply flowed into the next. It could have been a week, a month, a year, even a life time spent boxed in by stone walls on all sides. Barely a large enough crack in one of the three foot thick walls for them to throw him his lone piece of bread and water, just enough to keep him alive but always starving.

The entire time he could only think of his son, Caleb. The boy who had been born and raised for the single purpose of becoming the rebel leader and succeeding were his father could not.

Julian only held on for the small hope that he might one day get the chance to see his son's face, just one last time. Though with every passing night that hope grew dimmer and dimmer in this dark place, especially since he and the rest of the prisoners were schedule to be executed that very afternoon.

He heard people moving around outside his cell and sighed. "Sorry Caleb, seems I'm not going to be able to see you again," he said, making peace with himself.

But rather than opening the wall was pulled in two and dust scattered around his small cell, causing the man to cough. As the dust cleared he saw a boy with dark brown hair and strong shoulders standing above him in a trench coat. A sword as his side and a worried look in his eyes.

Julian was speechless as the boy said. "Dad..."

* * *

"Dad..." Caleb said, hardly able to believe it. The image in his head of the strong proud warrior from his memories crumbled away as he looked down on the aged and tired eyes of the man in front of him that stared up in a mixture of awe and disbelief. His frame was almost that of a skeleton from lack of food, his brown hair and beard had grown out to cover most his face and the dry air had split his lips and dried the life from the poor man's eyes.

But none of that seemed to matter the moment he opened his mouth and Caleb heard his father's voice again. "Caleb... I can hardly believe it," Julian said, his voice still had the deep hum that had made him a leader of men, it was the voice of Caleb's father.

"Dad," Caleb said rushing forward and embracing his father after all the years he had missed him.

"Caleb. Oh son, how even dreamed of seeing you again," Julian said, closing his eyes as he pressed his head against his son's shoulder. Fearing that if he looked upon his son's face for too long it would disappear, like the last dreams of a dying man, moving towards the light. But then another worry moved into the father's heart. "Caleb, you shouldn't have come. You need to get out of here before they capture you as well. This world needs you more than it needs me, son."

"No, dad, I came to rescue you! And I've brought the Guardians!" Caleb said pulling out of his hug.

"The Guardians?" Julian said in surprise. He looked over his son's shoulder to see a young girl around his age with long blond hair. She was not one of the Guardians from Julian's memories, but the dress and wings were unmistakable. "Then the Guardians really did come," he mumbled in awe.

Will walked up next to Cornelia. "Fifty three live prisoners in all, the rest are dead from starvation. And those who are alive don't seem that far off," Will said quietly to Cornelia. Their petty differences forgotten in the light of this horror.

"Will... I don't know how we are going to get these people out of here. Most of them can hardly walk," Cornelia said as she watched Caleb trying to help his father stand. It was a saddening sight, reminded the two girls of the pictures of the concentration camps from WWII Germany.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way to get them out," Will said, trying to find confidence.

"I don't think you will!" Will and Cornelia turned to see Frost and Tracker standing on the top of the stair leading down into the main cells area with their monstrous animals and over five dozen guards armed with crossbows.

The newly released prisoners cowered back as best they could. Cornelia started to raise her hands but stopped when Frost shouted. "Don't even think about it earth girl, your element isn't very fast, and I don't you can stop all the arrows," Frost boasted and his crossbowman all took aim at various prisoners, or the Guardians themselves. "We were going to let the roaches eat them alive, but I don't think Prince Phobos would mind it they faced a different death. If anything, you should thank us, this would be a much easier death."

Cornelia lowered her hands to her sides and bit her lip. "Cornelia. On three, I'm going to throw up a shield over the passageway, when I do, you cause the ceiling to cave in over them," Will whispered to Cornelia. The Earth Guardian nodded to show that she understood. "One... two... three!" Will brought up her hands and created a bright pink wall between them and the archers. The arrows were fired but they all bounced harmlessly off Will's shield.

"Earth," Cornelia commanded and the ceiling above the guards cracked and caved in on their heads. Kicking up a smoke screen of dirt of dust after which Will lowered her shield. Supporting one that covered the entire hallway was a lot harder than just one to surround a few people.

"Everyone move further back! Give the Guardian's room to work!" Julian ordered and the other prisoners obeyed his commands.

"Caleb, contact the others and tell them..." that was all Cornelia had the chance to say before a glowing green spiked ball on the end of a large chain came from the dust and she was hit by the chain in the stomach, knocking her to the wall hard enough to crack ribs.

As the dust settled Cornelia could see that Frost and Tracker were both still standing along with a few other guards. Tracker had his green ball and chain in hand, preparing for another throw. "It looks like it's time to clip this fairy's wings. Permanently," Frost said with a grin.

The Tracker threw the ball and chain again, the ball heading straight for Cornelia. "Cornelia!" Caleb shouted in panic, but before the ball could smash into the Earth Guardian's face, Will grabbed the chain and brought the ball to a halt.

"I don't think so," Will said with a small smile. She could see the Styx based energy inside of the ball and chain that helped propel it through the air and gild it. So she could see where it was going to go. "Quintessence," she said. Will's own bright bluish white electricity rushed through the chain and back to the Tracker who gave an ear piercing scream as he was violently shocked before disappearing in a cloud of bats, leaving only his clothes behind.

There were some startled shouts before Frost gave the order to charge. The remaining guards rushed forwards along with Frost on of top his rhino and the Tracker's tracking dog. But Will stood her ground and gathered up a massive amount of Aether.

"Get lost!" She shouted and let the intimidating aura push over the group in front of her. They all stopped in their tracks as they stared into her glowing pink eyes. Fear gripped at each one of them and the guards turned on their heels and started to run. Frost's rhino reared up on its hind legs, causing its master to fall off to the ground before turning and bolting alongside the Tracker's hound yapping like a puppy. "How does Danny scare them so bad that they faint? I can only ever get everything to run away with their tail between their legs," Will said, faking disappointment.

"You... you..." Frost said as he tried to pull himself up. His knees were shaking as he strained himself against the fear that threatened to grip him. "I won't fall for your sorcery!"

Frost willed himself to his feet and ran at Will with his mace raised over his head. But as he brought the steel down on the guardian's head, the mace just went right through her to hit the ground with a solid clank that sent vibrations through the shocked Captain's arm. The smug image of Will disappeared right in front of him, dissolving into pink light.

"You can't push me around anymore," Will said as she grabbed onto Frost's right arm, applying pressure until he let go of his weapon from the pain before throwing him into one of the empty cells with enough force to crack the wall he had smashed into. "I'm the heavy hitter now."

"Will... how did you... owww," Cornelia gasped from her broken ribs as she slumped against the ground.

"Hold still," Will said quickly as she moved up next to the Guardian of Earth. "This might feel kind of funny," she said before placing her hands near the bruises on the other girl's stomach. Small blue sparks moved along her hands and they started to glow pink. Cornelia was surprised again as the pain went away and the bruised skin returned to its normal color. "Still think I shouldn't have asked Danny for training?"

"...I'm still mad," Cornelia said as she looked away with a pout.

But they were distracted back to reality by Frost's low laughter. "You... you think you've won... but you haven't..." Frost spat through gasps of pain.

"Roaches!" One of the prisoners screamed. Will and Cornelia looked to the stairs to the lower area to see dozens of the large bugs skittering out of the darkness.

"We released them before we came down after you. With an army above, and the roaches below... those prisoners won't ever be get out of here alive," Frost chuckled, savoring his last small victory as he watched three of the roaches manage to grab and prisoner and start to tear the man limb from limb.

"Cornelia, collapse the stairway before more come!" Will shouted. The Guardian of Earth was back on her feet and doing just that.

Cornelia picked up large rocks and began to try to smash the bugs with them, but they were too fast, Earth was not the fastest of elements. Will wasn't having much more luck than Cornelia. She was shooting the large bolts of pink light that had replaced her old beam attacks at some of the closer roaches and blasted them backwards. But the creatures had hard shells and won't stop getting up.

"These things are harder to kill than roaches!" Cornelia said angrily as more of her attempts to smash the things hit nothing more than empty air.

"Back off!" Will said, trying to use her Aether to drive off the bugs, but it had no affect at all, and Will had to jump into the air to avoid being eaten from trying it. "Right... bugs... forgot," she grumbled to herself, sure that Danny was laughing at her somewhere.

"I am glad, that I was here to watch you die," Frost said, not caring that he would die as well. Will stopped glaring at him to see Caleb fighting off two of the creatures using the sword he brought along. He seemed to be having much more luck than they were as he plunged his blade up to the hilt through one of the bug's heads.

"Well sorry to disappoint you Frost," Will said walking up to the downed Captain and grabbing the short sword from his belt and turning to the roaches. "We aren't going to die."

The blade of the short sword began to glow a bright blue and sparks of electricity crackled in the air around it as Will focused her powers through the sword.

It felt as if the blade was guiding itself through the air as Will cut through the roaches, one after another like a knife through warm butter.

The fighting was over in just a few seconds leaving Will covered in the roache's guts. "Oh gross," Will said as she pushed off the white goo. "I really need a shower now." She looked around and felt bad for joking. A dozen of the previously alive prisoners had been torn to pieces and eaten by the giant bugs before everything had been resolved.

"Will, we still need a way out of here. We can't fight though either all of the roaches or the army of guards that waits for us outside. At least while protecting these people. We need an exit strategy," Caleb said in order to drag Will out of her thoughts.

"R...right." Will said looking around at the surrounding people. They were all too weak and shaken to move. Even if they hadn't been surrounded at all sides, getting the people out would have been a chore. None of the elements powers could help them with that one. And to guard all of them on the way out would be too much even for all five Guardians.

Will ran through everything she had learned about her powers in her mind but was drawing up a blank. They might be able to save five or so people, but they would be leaving the rest to die.

Will's heart sank at the thought of leaving anyone to die. It was not something you asked a thirteen year old girl to do. Decide who lives and who dies. 'There has to be a way out of here. There has to be a way,' she kept repeating in her mind again and again.

The Heart of Kandrakar felt hot against her chest. 'The Heart...' Will thought and then remembered seeing Danny using the Ring of Rage to open a portal between Earth and Tartarus. If he could do it, then just maybe she could too.

Will pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar and looked down at the glowing pink jewel. "Caleb, we're trying something new," she said pulling her arm back and giving a prayer before dragging the Heart across the air in front of her. A ripple appeared in the air before twisting around itself into one of the blue and white portals that connected Meridian and Earth.

"Will, how did you do that?" Cornelia asked surprised.

"Don't know," Will admitted. "Caleb, tell the other girls what's going on and to meet us on Earth. Everyone through the portal!" Will shouted waving everyone to move through. The remaining prisoners moved quickly through as freedom was finally presented to them.

Before leaving Will turned to Frost. "I told you we wouldn't die," she said with a grin before moving through the portal taking the sword she had picked off the Captain with her. Leaving him to his misery.

* * *

Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin found their way back to Earth and followed their instincts to find Will and Cornelia on the island were Danny had trained Will. It was only just starting to move towards being midafternoon around the time school would let out, but the mood was dark as they landed. They could hardly take the sight of the skeletal people.

"Is...is this all of them?" Hay Lin asked, counting only just over thirty people. "I thought there were supposed to be over a hundred prisoners."

"When we got there most of them had already starved to death. Others were killed by the roaches," Caleb informed the girl as he looked over his shoulder to where Will and Cornelia were sitting quietly. After the adrenaline from the battle was over they had both lost their breakfast.

"Hey... you two alright?" Irma said, trying to sound cheerful, but the attempt rang hollow in the grim surroundings.

"We just watched people being pulled limb from limb by giant roaches. How do you think we feel?" Cornelia said, his voice more tired than angry.

"After all the effort we put into it, we end up saving so few people," Will added depressed.

"But you did save them, my lady. Lives that would have otherwise been lost," a straight voice rang out around them.

"Oh, who said that?" Taranee asked looking around searching for the source of the voice.

"Oh yeah, guys this is Raiden. Raiden, that's Taranee, Irma, and Hay Lin," Will said holding up a short sword decorated with a silver hilt shaped like an eagle with the details of the feathers outlined in copper. Runes were edged in along its blade.

"It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Guardians of the Infinite Worlds," the sword's runes flashed in time with each syllable.

"Will, is that sword talking?" Irma asked wide eye. "That is so cool."

"Yeah, I found out yesterday that my power can bring inanimate objects to life. I think they have to be made of metal though. I'm not actually quite sure how it works," Will said with a shrug. "This was Frost's sword. I took it from him to use against the roaches."

"I am not Frost's sword! I was the sword of a respectable Captain of the guard in the time before Phobos's rule, used to protect the royal family. That is, until that swine took me and hung me from his belt as nothing more than a ceremonial piece of decretive metal!" Raiden seemed to growl angrily. "That fight against those bugs was the first real battle I have seen in quite some time. Thank you my lady for drawing me in defense of the people."

"Right, the people," Will said looking around at the figures laying on the ground around them. "Hay Lin, do you think you can get in contact with your grandma? We'll need to find these people something to eat before we send them back to Meridian."

That was the least they could do for these people. It was all they could do. They couldn't give them their time back, or take away the memories.

* * *

Danny was walking around the school trying to find Elyon. Usually she would wait for him by the front stairs and they would walk home together, but today she was nowhere to be found.

Finally Danny spotted Mia and the other astral drops. "Hey have any of you seen Elyon?" Danny asked them as he got closer.

"I think I saw her heading home a little while ago," Hay Lin's astral drop said a little nervously.

"I wonder why she didn't wait for me. I hope she's feeling alright," Danny said, scratching his head. "I guess I'll just call her later to make sure she's ok. Oh well, see you again the next time the Guardians need to do something important during school hours," Danny said waving to them as he left. Leaving the astral drops shocked that he could tell the difference.

* * *

Cedric was trying to come up with a plan. He needed to figure out a way to make Elyon miserable on Earth, without making her hate him. He did have the advantage that she would believe anything he said to her, but he still needed to be careful.

But before he could decide on his line of action the bell to the store rang and Elyon came in, tears streaming down her face. "Cedric... can I talk to you?" Elyon said with a sniff.

Cedric was a little taken aback, but then he simply smiled and said, "Always," in his deep snaky voice. Maybe this would all be easier than the thought.

* * *

"You have been what!?" Taranee shouted when Cornelia blabbed that Will had been getting training from Danny, shortly after the girls had reabsorbed their astral drops. "Why would you ask him for help? Why wouldn't you tell us about it? Aren't we supposed to be your friends?"

"Don't try to pull that line on me! I didn't tell you because you all don't understand," Will said crossing her arms stubbornly. "I was tired of being useless in a fight and just getting in the way. I was usually less useful than Caleb, and he doesn't even have any powers. I just wanted to learn more about my powers."

"Will, you would have learned about your powers on your own if you had just been..." Yan Lin started, but Will cut her off.

"No! I'm wouldn't have learned them if I had been patient, I would be dead, and so would Caleb and Cornelia and all of the people we managed to rescue today. We would have all died," Will said sharply, glaring at the elderly woman for the first time since she had become Guardian. The other girls seemed shocked about this sudden outburst. "If you don't want to tell us anything then fine, but don't complain when I try to find other sources."

"Will, what are you talking about?" Irma asked confused.

"What am I talking about? Tell me, how much does any of us know about Kandrakar, or the Guardians, or our powers, or Ghosts, or even Earth for that matter? We don't know anything, and yet we are fighting in a war for these people that we haven't even seen or heard from. We are risking our lives and they don't even tell us what's going on. Don't you think that is just a little messed up?" Will said, stomping her foot as an electric charge made her hair wave about.

There was a pause after her outbreak as the others considered what had been said. "She's got a point," Irma said turning to Yan Lin.

"Grandma, can't you tell us something?" Hay Lin asked looking to the older woman.

Yan Lin looked around at the children around her who were looking at her with sheepishly curious eyes. Only Will had a determined look about her. "Tell me why Kandrakar ordered the original Guardians to murder Achilles, or I swear on the Heart of Kandrakar that I'll quit the Guardians," Will dropped a double bomb into the silence.

Yan Lin's eyes widened at the threat. An oath made on the Heart was binding for any who had been touched by its power. Yan Lin would have no choice but to give in to Will's demands.

"Because he was more powerful than anything they could ever hope to deal with in a fair manner. Kandrakar is the world charged with maintaining the safety of this universe as a whole against the powers of chaos. A being such as Achilles was a threat to that peace. So the original Guardians were made to swear on the Heart of Kandrakar to kill Achilles the moment he had finished off the Ghost King, both in order to destroy Achilles, and in the hope that the Ring of Rage would disappear forever. But because Achilles himself did not seal away Pariah alone, the ring remained loyal to its master," Yan Lin said quickly, hardly pausing for a breath.

"Whenever you said that Kandrakar, Tartarus, and Earth had a bloody history together, you didn't just mean that Kandrakar and Tartarus fought each other on Earth," Will said, hearing the old woman admit it all made it so much more real. Will had been entertaining the idea that it had all been some kind of set up left by the Ghost Danny got his info from in an attempt to turn Danny against them, but it was all real.

"No. After the death of Achilles many of Earth's greatest warriors opened a rift to Kandrakar in order to get revenge for what had occurred. They killed the Guardians of Water and Air before they were finally stopped. It is not something that Kandrakar has forgotten. The leader of the battle, Achilles' own son was sealed away for all of eternity, and his men were stripped of their tools and thrown into the infinite ocean as punishment for their crimes. Though the next generation Guardians of Air and Heart tried to help them find their way back home. The story later was adapted into Homer's Odysseus," Yan Lin said looking away, as if ashamed of the dark history that she was made to share. "But... Kandrakar has mellowed in the seven thousand years since that time. Things were much different back then when Pariah's chaos still ran rampant through the worlds."

"Can you swear on the Heart that's true?" Will asked.

Yan Lin didn't say anything. It wasn't true. Kandrakar had not changed. Nerissa was proof enough of that fact. They had allowed Nerissa to kill Cassidy, and then sealed her way for all of eternity as punishment. No, Kandrakar had not changed one bit.

"You cannot even trust your own Kingdom. That is a grave state to be in, my lady," Raiden said from his position on Will's belt in a sheath that Caleb had found for her when they had moved the ex-prisoners to the rebel camp. Will had decided to keep the blade. A sword might come in handy and it wasn't as annoying as 'Big Jimmy'. Being a short sword, he wouldn't be that hard to hide from Will's mother.

Will turned towards the stairs. "Will, where are you going?" Hay Lin asked as she saw the girl go.

"Danny will be waiting for me. I'm not going to stop my lessons," she said as she shook with surprised emotions, static openly crackling along her skin. And so she left, leaving the others too shocked to move.

* * *

Danny sat on the beach looking at his phone. He had tried to call Elyon ten times and she hadn't answered. And when he had tried her house number her parents had told him that she didn't want to talk to anybody. Danny just couldn't understand what had been going on.

He looked up when he noticed Will's Aether coming towards the island. Something was clearly wrong there too.

Will landed on the beach in from of Danny with a sword on her hip. She did a check to make sure that Danny was real and then glared at him suspiciously after the check had turned out positive. "A little over wary aren't you?" Danny said raising an eyebrow.

"How do I know you aren't just a puppet?" She asked.

Danny laughed. "Good, you're getting better. But no, I'm not."

Will pulled out the sword. "Teach me how to use a sword," she said with the same determined look she always had. But there was something tired behind her eyes. Something Danny recognized.

"No, you're in no condition to train," Danny said looking towards the sky again. "Not after what you must have seen today."

Will flinched and the sword lowered a bit. "You... you can tell that too?"

"Not from just your Aether, but people get a certain look in their eyes just after they see someone get brutally murdered," Danny said with a sigh. "You've moved past the denial phase and have moved into what I call the 'if only I was stronger' phase," Danny air quoted. "Your mystic powers are controlled by your emotions. If you're in a self-destructive mind set like this, than you will just get yourself hurt."

Will stood still for a moment before putting away her sword and sitting down on the sand next to Danny. "When was your first time?" She asked.

"I saw a vegan protester crushed underneath three tons of possessed raw meat," Danny said sadly. "The irony just makes me feel worse about it. But I've seen hundreds die since then. No matter how strong I got I never seemed to be strong enough or fast enough to save everyone. It's like those stupid escort missions in video games. Impossible to do on your first time through because you have no idea where the enemy will come from or what they will do, so you get dumped into the game over screen because someone died. But in real life you rarely get 'redos."

"So this will always happen?" Will grumbled feeling like shit. It had been because of this feeling that she had exploded at Yan Lin. She tried to close her eyes but the feeling of something trying to rip her apart was too much for her and her eyes shot back open.

"Survivors guilt? Yeah, it stays with you forever... it's even worse when it's someone close to you," Danny said before getting up. "Go home and calm down any way you can. I'll teach you what I can about using your powers with weapons tomorrow. Just take it easy."

"Danny... why were you so nice to Mia?" Will asked, knowing the name through her astral drop's memories.

Danny stopped mid stretch. "A little while back, a crazed up fruitloop tried to clone me so that he could have his 'perfect son'. Well, one of the clones had free will. Her name was Danielle."

"Wait, the clone was a girl?" Will asked quickly.

"Haven't you ever seen Jurassic Park? You just have to deny the egg the proper protein during the developmental phase and it will always be a girl," Danny said with a raised eyebrow asking if there were any more questions before continuing. "But since she managed to stay stable longer than the other clones Vlad captured her and melted her down in order to try to figure out how to make his 'perfect son'."

Will was shocked and backed up as something she had never seen before started to bubble up. Danny was angry. He was shaking with it, his Aether turning a deadly crimson red along with the Ring of Rage around his neck.

"He killed her... for something so stupid and useless," Danny hissed. "And I had been unable to save her," he started taking deep breaths in order to calm down and his Aether returned to its green color.

"What... what happened?" Will asked.

Danny answered with. "I did something I'm not proud of. Let's just leave it at that," it was the last thing he said before floating off the ground and flying away.

But that didn't stop him from remembering that night. The only night when he had lost control of the Ring of Rage. He remembered Danielle's final words, and the look of Vlad's corpse as he beat him into oblivion.


	7. Chapter 7

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

 **Edited by Xbox432**

* * *

Elyon was back at the book store in the morning before school. She couldn't exactly say why she was there at the time. She usually only went there after school, but she felt compelled to go there that morning.

But that wasn't the thing that was on her mind. No, she couldn't stop thinking about how Danny was cheating on her with Will.

"Of course it would be Will," Elyon couldn't help but think. Will seemed to take everything that Elyon had ever had or wanted. After Will had first shown up all of her old friends started to become more distant as they all started to hang out with Will more. Even her best friend Cornelia would just up and vanish on her, leaving her all alone to hang out with the 'other girls'.

Will had also won the affection of Matt, the boy Elyon used to have a crush on before she met Danny. Elyon had been crestfallen for days after she had realized that the guitarist only had eyes for the red haired girl but she had tried to move on.

Now it seemed like the girl had her sights set on Elyon's actual boyfriend and was getting her way.

"Elyon, you need to go to school soon," Cedric said as he organized the new books into piles, depending on what shelf they were to go on. All the years spent tending to Phobos's library had been good practice for the snake-man.

"Do I have too?" Elyon whined looking more than a little depressed about it.

"School is important. For now anyways," the book seller said, adding the second part as more of an afterthought.

Elyon sighed and sat down. "I used to love going to school, seeing all my friends. But now it feels like I just don't belong there. Or anywhere really," she admitted.

"I am sure that you will soon find a place where you truly belong, and where people understand you," Cedric said slyly. It had been so easy for him to use the power of ritual in order to make the girl more suspect able to his words. He might not have even needed the spell to have turned the girl again the Guardians. Not with Elyon's own hormones and teenage drama problems doing most of the work for him.

"Well, I think you understand me," Elyon said, rubbing one arm.

"I am glad you think that," Cedric said with a grin. It was just two more days until the spell reached its zenith. Once the light from the day moon turned completely red.

That would be when he would strike. And then the heart of Meridian would belong to Prince Phobos.

* * *

A red moon. It peeked through between the clouds in the early morning sky. Only a small sliver of blue on its northern tip was stopping it from being pure red.

Danny stared at it as he sat on the roof of the school building before the start of classes. Even though he had always been fascinated by space, this moon felt wrong to him. As he stared at it the whispers of the Ring of Rage became louder and louder.

Danny knew the scientific explanation for the current condition of the moon. It was the angle the light was coming through the earth's atmosphere that cause the moon to seem colored. But he also knew that some of the natural phenomenon in the world could have effects on the more mystical aspects.

Such as the way the Ring of Rage effected his emotions. He had been in control for weeks as he went through the unfair treatment he had received from his old friends out of their fear that he would become like Pariah. Or his sudden movement from Amity without his consent. Or being attacked for no reason besides racism by a bunch of girls that looked like fairies.

Sure Danny had felt sad, or just annoyed, but never angry, never furious. But the night before he had nearly been pushed over the edge by something as simple as a memory. His rage quickly building up and getting out of his control as the Ring of Rage tried to take advantage of it. It was reveling in his anger.

Danny could feel his emotions getting twisted as the Ring's whisper grew louder. 'Kill... kill... kill the guardians... KILL THE GUARDIANS!'

"Shut up..." Danny hissed he pulled off the ring and made to hit it against the stone ceil but his hand stopped.

'They will attack you again... don't be fooled... Kandrakar cannot be trusted,' the ring said. 'She will betray you.' An image of Will in her Guardian form appeared in Danny's mind.

"I said shut up!" Danny yelled and smashed the ring against the roof. Its voice halted and Danny found himself panting as if he had ran a marathon, clutching the ring between his fingers as he tried to regain his self-control. He could not lose himself. It was just want the ring wanted.

"Are you alright?" Danny turned his head to see Will on the roof behind him. She had a concerned look on her face.

"I'm... I'm fine," Danny said as his breathing became steady. "How'd you find me?"

"Besides the yelling, you have the strongest Aether around, so when you are off on your own, it is pretty easy for even me to spot you," Will pointed out with a shrug. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I'm sure. It's just... the ring," Danny said, loosening his grip so that the glow of the ring shone through his fingers. Will flinched away at the sight of the thing. Danny wasn't surprised. "I assume you know that the Hearts of Worlds have minds of their own. A consciousness, and its own agenda."

Will nodded. "I can sometimes tell what my Heart is thinking, but it's never speaks to me," Will said before correcting herself. "Not in words at least."

"Be glad. I find it hard to get the Ring of Rage to shut up," Danny chuckled, but his expression was one of sickness as he looked down at the ring in his hand. "It is always trying to get me to do horrible things. It twists my emotions, trying to get me to snap," He said sounding tired, not the bored tired that Will was used to seeing from him, but a spiritually drained sort of tired. "Ironically, I think the only reason I haven't yet, is because of the hatred I feel from the Ring. It truly hates me more than anything else in the world."

"It... hates you? But I thought you were its guardian," Will said confused.

"I own the Ring by right of conquest. I took it from its previous own when I beat him. But that doesn't mean the ring likes me," Danny said. "It hates that someone like me owns it. Someone who doesn't have any interest in power or in conquering the universe or whatever. I think it might even be afraid."

"Alright, now I know you are just messing with me. Why would it need to be afraid?" Will said raising an eyebrow.

"Because I am only mortal," Danny said. It took a moment for Will to realize he really meant it. "Someday, I will die from old age or disease, or an accident. And since the ring will have never been taken away from me by force, it will no longer have a master, and it will simply disappear. It is so scared that it is trying to corrupt me, so that I will use its power to strip myself of my mortality, so that it can continue to exist... I'm not even sure that I won't someday."

Will thought back to her vision. The scene of the emotionally torn Danny taking the ring, believing that he should have just died so that it would have disappeared, but even Danny, as strong as he was, was still afraid to die.

"Why do you keep it?" Will asked him. Danny looked a bit surprised at the question. "Why do you keep the ring if you hate it so much? Couldn't you just get rid of it? It isn't like anyone else could use it before they beat you."

"I guess, but there is a problem with that too," Danny said, rolling the piece of metal between his fingers. "A year ago I was in an accident that turned me into a halfa. During that accident, the barrier that separated the Ghost Zone from Earth was torn to pieces. Portals began to open between the two worlds, and Ghosts began to invade our planet."

"What!?" Will shouted, thinking back to the Ghost dog that Danny had chasing her around. He had told her that it was one of less dangerous Ghosts. She couldn't imagine the whole world being invaded.

"That is why I need the Ring's power. It is the only way to stop the Ghosts from coming through. I am using it to create a Veil of my own that holds the Ghosts back. And that is the reason I can't let myself lose the ring. Because if I do, who knows what will happen to Earth. Not to mention the rest of the universe," Danny said as he spread his arms wild and let himself fall down onto the roof were he lay with his arms still stretched out and his eyes closed.

A few moments passed while Will considered what she had just heard. It went against everything she thought she knew about Danny. She had also seen the boy as untouchable, a symbol of power so great that he could just laugh off any form of attempt at his life. To think that someone so invisible, could be so damaged. He was holding onto the ring for dear life, but he was so terrified of possessing it. Being made to put on a strong face all the time to stop the ring from messing around in his head.

"Jeez, let's just get off this depressing subject," Danny said simply, closing his eyes to block out his view of the red moon.

"Well... open house is in just a few days," Will said, changing the subject.

"Uhhh. From one depressing subject to another," Danny grumbled.

"Yes, but at least this one is universally depressing," Will joked. And just like that they were back to being just your average teenage kids, with normal teenage problems; embarrassing parents, unfair teachers, and dealing with the dreaded monster of the parent teacher meetings. Talking about the more mundane problems that came along with being a secret teenage superhero.

They chatted for around twenty minutes until the warning bell rang for everyone to get to their first period classes. After that the two of them went off to their first period.

But when they entered and Danny spotted Elyon, he walked over at sat down next to her. "Hey Elyon. It's good to see you. I tried to call you last night, but your mom said you weren't feeling well," Danny said, his usual cheerful self. But Elyon didn't respond, she just turned her head away from him. "Elyon... something the matter?"

"Just leave me alone," She said in a voice that was close to a growl. Danny blinked in surprise and shut his mouth.

'What did I do wrong?' He wondered, going through a possible list in his head. He couldn't think of anything, unless that day was their one month anniversary, but he didn't think he had been in Heatherfield that long.

He briefly considered using his powers to try to figure out what was wrong. But decided against it. Even if he hadn't worked up the courage to tell her about him, it still wasn't right to using your powers on your girlfriend.

As for Will's part, she sat with Cornelia in an equal awkward silence. The words from the night before still hanging in the air, the week of Will moving around behind their backs. The lack of trust. Not to mention the threat of leaving W.I.T.C.H.. The mood was rather grim for everyone.

* * *

When lunch time rolled around, none of the girls felt hungry. And even though they didn't plan it, each ended up in the courtyard behind the school. "Hey guys..." Will said as she noticed them.

They nodded and gave some small greeting, but they all looked drained. If anything, Will was the best off out of all of them, having experience in losing sleep over the questions that now plagued all of them.

"Um... Hay Lin... Would it be okay if I went over to speak with your grandmother after school today," Will asked nervously.

"Why? So you can accuse her of plotting evil again?" Hay Lin said, uncharacteristically sharply. It might have been the first time the Chinese girl had ever glared at Will.

"I just... I want to apologize to her," Will admitted. "I wasn't in my right state of mind yesterday after... well, you know, and I took it out on her. Yes I had questions, but I took it too far."

"Too far? If anything you didn't go far enough!" Taranee said angrily, fire clear in her eyes. "I can't believe she has been hiding all this information from us all this time. How are we supposed to trust Kandrakar? How do we even know what we are doing is right?"

"Wow, calm down there, Brainy. I'm upset too, but that's going a little bit overboard. You've seen Meridian. It needs to be freed from Phobos, that's something even a straight C student like me can get," Irma said as she tried to wave down the Guardian of Fire.

"And protecting Elyon is also a no brainer," Cornelia added crossing her arms. "We can't let Phobos capture her."

"That's why I didn't mention anything the moment I found out that Kandrakar was not exactly in the straight and narrow. Because Kandrakar or no Kandrakar, Meridian needs our help," Will said looking over all of them. "So let's just put all this business behind us until after we put Phobos down." None of the other girls looked very happy, but they still nodded in agreement, Kandrakar could wait. "And to that end... I'm suggesting taking Danny with us to Meridian for a final battle."

"What!?" The other four girls shouted.

"Will, just because we can't trust Kandrakar, doesn't mean we can trust Danny," Irma said crossing her arms.

"Irma, Danny is the fastest solution we have for this problem. With his help we could beat Phobos, no problem," Will reasoned. "We could end it all now, then Meridian and Elyon could be safe, and we could go back to our everyday lives without worrying about being called away for W.I.T.C.H. business anymore."

Will could see it in the other girls' eyes, the temptation of being freed from ever having to see the horrors of Phobos's rule again, and maybe, the fear of dying before everything was over. She remembered her vision of Danny as he was offered the Heart of Tartarus, hope mixed with fear and desperation. "What do you girls think?" Hay Lin mumbled looking over to the other three.

"He's... probably more powerful than Phobos... and he was alone with Will for a week. And he hasn't tried to steal the Heart of Kandrakar yet," Irma reasoned, biting her lip. "We... everything could be over."

"I don't know... it's so risky. I mean, he's the Ghost King," Taranee said, too stubborn to admit that she might have been wrong about Danny.

"...We'll talk to Caleb about it." Cornelia said, as a means of putting off making a decision. "We'll see what he thinks and ask how long it would take for him to gather up the other rebels. But we won't tell Danny until we are sure."

It wasn't an outright yes, but Will would take it. She was too relieved not to. Soon, she would be able to tell Danny the truth. She just hoped that everything would go smoothly.

* * *

'She apologized. What had she needed to apologize for,' Yan Lin couldn't help but think as Will had left the elder Guardian.

Yan Lin couldn't help but feel guilty. Kandrakar was not evil. Yes they had a stick up their collective butts and were bound by long standing laws rather than good common sense, but they weren't evil. It was just so hard for her to explain that, since she was not permitted to tell them any of her history as a Guardian, or the laws of the greater universe.

She was hiding so much from these little girls who were being made to fight a battle that was as old as they were and that they didn't even understand. Watching it was pulling the old woman's heart apart, but there was nothing that she could do.

"Grandma," Hay Lin said a little shyly as she approached the older woman.

"Oh, Hay Lin, what can I do for you?" Yan Lin said, keeping up her cheerful act. Trying to free her spirit of the guilt that plagued her mind.

"Um... so for parent's night, we're supposed to fill out a family tree, but mom and dad are busy with the restaurant right now. So I was wondering if you would help me fill it out," Hay Lin said, pulling out the instructions on how to make the family tree.

"Oh of course I will help you. We've got a big family photo album in the closet. I'll go get it," Yan Lin said, gesturing to the closet. She walked over and opened up the door only for a land slide of junk to come falling out of it. "This might take longer than I thought," she said a little embarrassed as her granddaughter giggled.

After a few minutes they found the photo album and were starting to sort through the pictures, it was full of cousins, uncles, grandparents and beyond. They started to make photo copies of the pictures they wanted and putting them in the correct spots.

But soon Hay Lin noticed one spot that was being left open. "Hey Grandma. Why don't we have any pictures of grandpa?" Hay Lin asked. "Now that I think about it, you never did talk about him." She said thinking back. "What was he like?"

"Oh... he was a kind old soul. Though he was always thinking too much, and didn't get out enough. But he had a presence that could be felt for miles. I doubt he would have ever smiled if I hadn't always been there to cheer him up, the poor fool," Yan Lin said, smiling over at her granddaughter. "Himerish was literally a man who was out of this world."

Hay Lin's eyes widened as she realized what her grandmother had just said. "You mean, my grandpa was from another world?" Hay Lin asked. "Uh, does that make me part alien or something?"

Yan Lin started to laugh. "I suppose it does," she said before looking away. She was pushing what she was allowed to tell the girls before they were deemed worthy Guardians, but this was nothing about her time as a Guardian or about Kandrakar's laws, so she was technically not breaking the rules. "I met him in Kandrakar, and we had a thing going on for a while. It's just too bad that I was the only one that grew old."

"You mean... he didn't die, did he?" Hay Lin asked solemnly.

"Nah, he just never aged," Yan Lin said. "People in Kandrakar don't grow old like the rest of us. He is the same as he's always been, but he's still alive in his own way. Hopefully you will get to meet him someday. Though I know for certain he has always been watching over you." Hay Lin looked shocked so Yan Lin just continued her confessions. "He actually offered to let me stay on Kandrakar with him, to be with him forever, but I couldn't. Your old grandmother has always been a bit of a free spirit, and Kandrakar just wasn't ready for me yet. Besides, Earth was my home, it still is my home." Yan Lin put her hand on Hay Lin's. "Don't forget that you always have a choice. No one can make you do something, if you don't want to do it."

Hay Lin smiled. "Thanks grandma," She said, hugging her grandmother. "It's too bad that we don't have a picture for him though."

"Yes, that really is a shame," Yan Lin admitted before the two of them continued on with their work.

* * *

But even as filling in the family charts brought Yan and Hay Lin closer together, it was doing the opposite at the Browns' house.

"Dad, Mr. Hoffman has taught me so much about family histories and how important it is to know your roots. He especially wanted to see my family chart," Elyon said. The straw haired girl was visibly upset but trying to control herself.

"I'm sorry honey, we did the best we could..." Elyon's mom said guiltily. She was a thin woman with reddish brown hair that came down to her shoulders.

"There are no photos here except for ours," Elyon pointed out dumbly, pulling away the family chart from her mother. "Where are the pictures of Robert, and Claudia, and great aunt Milacent," Elyon said angrily as she read off the names on the paper. "And why haven't I ever seen any of these people before?"

Her parents exchanged nervous glances. "It's a small family. You mother and I were both only children," Elyon's father said. Mr. Brown had the appearance of a common enough man, average high, weight, face, and nondescript brown hair, he was the kind of man who would have gone completely unnoticed in a crowd.

"I think there was a fire fifty years ago. Your great aunt Sylvia lost a lot of documents," Mrs. Brown tried.

"And her phone, and her car!?" Elyon nearly shouted in an agitated voice. "You know what, forget it. I guess I'm not even worth the bother," Elyon said before storming off in tears, leaving her parents feeling ashamed.

"Maybe it's time she knew," Mrs. Brown whisper to her husband.

"Yeah, that we're not Human and that she's from a different planet," Mr. Brown said a little bitterly as the weight of all of their lies pressed down on him.

"I hoped that we would not have to explain to her that we brought her here to save her life," Mrs. Brown said with a sigh. Her husband placed a hand over hers and they looked into each other's eyes, each seeing through the glamour that had been placed around them to their true selves, a pair of beings with lumpy lime green skin and pointed ears.

They both knew that they were not Elyon's real parents, but they still would do anything to protect their little girl. Even if she ended up hating them for it.

* * *

Hay Lin couldn't understand what was happening. Everything around her was out of this world. Large white towers surrounded her, each growing to heights beyond what her eyes could see. She turned in a wide circle, letting her eyes drink in this pure world, until she noticed two figures in the room.

One was a young man, looking as if he was only in his mid-twenties. He was bald with odd tattoos that reminded the Guardian of Air of the Heart of Kandrakar. He was dressed in a plain white robe and was talking to a young woman, one who made Hay Lin's eyes widen with shock.

She looked as if she was around nineteen, Chinese with short black hair and soft features. She was dressed in the standard uniform for a Guardian of the Veil. "Grandma..." Hay Lin whispered as she recognized her from some of the pictures from earlier that day. She floated up towards the two, fully realizing that she was just in a vision and that she couldn't interact with the rest of them.

"Yan, please reconsider. Please stay here with me," the man said, his eyes pleading with the young Yan Lin's.

"Himerish, you know I can't do that," Yan Lin said sadly as she lifted up a hand and placed it on the bald man's cheek. "You know I can't. I have a life back on Earth, and besides, this place is so boring," she said with a smile.

It earned a smile in return from the man that was Hay Lin's grandfather. "I know. But that is the thing that is making this so hard," Himerish said as he touched the hand that his love had put on his check. "But that is exactly what makes this so hard for me. Because without you, this world has no life for me. But I can't follow you."

"Himerish... Give me a hundred years to live out my life on Earth and when I die my spirit will join you here. But until then, I cannot stay," Yan Lin said her free hand lowering to the lower part of her stomach. "This world is no place to raise a child."

Hay Lin's eyes moved to her grandmother's stomach, as if she could see through it to the baby that would one day develop into her father.

"I will miss you every day you're gone," Himerish said sadly.

"I won't give you the chance to. Until the Heart of Kandrakar moves on to the next generation I will continue to visit. So don't get to complacent while I'm gone. And you better not let your eyes wonder," she said in a fake stern voice. Then she laughed the same laugh that Hay Lin had heard hundreds of times since the day she had been born, before throwing her arms around the man's neck. "Just make sure you keep yourself happy. And that you are ready for me when I finally do come to stay."

"I will always be watching over you, as well as our son and granddaughter," he said, it surprised Hay Lin to hear that. How had the man known that she would be born?

"Oh poo, I was hoping to have a daughter. Oh well, guess I will just have to play dress up with our son until our granddaughter is finally born," Yan Lin giggled, a gentle breeze moving around them. "But you were just being a bad boy, telling me what the future holds," she said as the two of them leaned in together. "Let me give you a reward, bad boy." They shared a kiss, one that was deep enough for Hay Lin to blush with embarrassment and turn away.

The dream ended and Hay Lin found herself looking up at the ceiling of her room. She sat up and looked around the room, wanting to do something before the memory faded away.

She spotted her sketch pad nearby and grabbed it. She flipped it open and turned on her bedside lamp, before quickly starting to draw. She would have her picture of her grandfather.

* * *

Yan Lin woke up in the night with the standard old woman problem; bladder needed to be emptied. She hadn't minded growing old that much, she knew that her spirit was eternal and that was the only thing that truly mattered. The physical shell was nothing too important.

She had finished up her business and was heading back to her room when she noticed the light on in Hay Lin's room. She opened the door and looked in to find that her granddaughter was a sleep with a sketch pad in her lap and a pencil still in hand.

Yan Lin smiled as she walked over to tuck her granddaughter more properly into bed when she spotted the picture and gasped. It was a perfect drawing of her Himerish, the same as he had always been.

"It looks like you take a bit after your grandfather after all," she said more to herself than to the sleeping girl. She put the pad away before leaning down and kissing the girl on the forehead. "Our granddaughter always was special, Himerish."

* * *

The school gym was filled with hundreds of people, milling about and looking at the various family charts that had been set up there. But to Danny, everything seemed so distant, as if their hundreds of footsteps where echoing on the other side of a vast canyon.

He hadn't been able to sleep lately due to the near constant whispers of the ring, trying to tempt him and break his spirit. He looked paler than usual and his eyes were unfocused. As the moon had become more and more red, the whispers grew louder and louder.

'Look at them, so weak and fragile. So completely unaware of how small and defenseless they are in the wake of the greater universe...' The ring whispered to Danny as he stood in the middle of the crowd. It was true; each and every one of the Humans didn't have a clue just how small their world was, how easily they could be destroyed. 'You should show them. Free them of the blinds that have shielded their eyes from the truth and become the shadow that will save them from the light.'

"Shut up..." Danny moaned weakly.

'Do not pretend like you have not realized this. The only way that you can truly protect them, it to sit above them on a throne made of the bones of your enemies...' The whispers never stopped... never. Danny's head was ringing as the volume of his surroundings seemed to be getting louder and louder, hundreds of voices bleeding together into an ocean of static.

Danny clasped a hand to his head as his feet began to sway. But before he could fall over he felt a light touched on his shoulder and a caring voice asked. "Danny, are you okay?"

Danny turned his head to see his sister Jazz looking down at him with a concerned look. 'Sure, I'm fine, just a little dizzy...' that's what Jazz expected to hear in replay. Danny had always put on a grin and pretended like everything was alright just so that Jazz wouldn't worry about him. So she knew things must have been really bad when he responded with. "I... I don't know."

Jazz saw her younger brother's hand going to ring around his neck. "Danny... please just take it off. The world can survive without the Veil for a day or two, just take a break. If not for yourself, then for the people who love you." Jazz said hoping that her words would get through to him.

Danny gave a halfhearted chuckle. "You make it sound like I'm an alcoholic." He said a little warily. "The red moon will be over after tonight. I just have to last a few more hours without being driven completely insane." Danny tried to smile, but it didn't stick very well. "Thanks for caring though."

"Danny and Jazz! We found our chart!" Maddie shouted across the room at her children as she stood in front of one of the boards. Both her and Jack were still dressed in their brightly colored jumpsuits, which drew nearly every eye in the room.

"Hopefully our parents won't drive you insane first," Jazz said with a sigh.

"Well, that is why you tagged along, isn't it?" Danny joked weakly as he followed his sister through the crowd.

Danny didn't even notice Will and her mother walking around the gym looking at the various family charts. "Mom, don't you think omitting dad's whole side of the family is a little immature? You could have at least left grandpa on." Will said as she momentarily glanced at her own chart.

"I think it's a little soon for you to be lecturing me about maturity. And besides, I'm an adult, I'm allowed to be as immature as I want," Susan said with a lopsided smile at her daughter. Will's mother and father had never officially become divorced. Even so, Will hadn't seen or heard from her father in years. Her mother didn't like to talk about why, but it was obvious enough that something happened.

"I don't think that's how it works," Will said drily as her mother moved further on.

"Oh really? Because I don't think it's Halloween," Susan said while she pointed in front of them. Will looked at where her mother was pointing to see Danny's mom and dad dressed in their usual clothes. She wondered how she hadn't noticed them sooner given how loud they were.

"Oh wow, poor Danny," Will said in pity.

"What? Is that boy a friend of yours?" Susan asked her daughter.

"Yeah, Danny's Elyon's boyfriend. He moved here just a little while ago," Will explained, making sure to point out that Danny was already spoken for so her mom wouldn't get ideas.

"Well then, why don't we go say hello before we go and speak with your teachers," Susan said with a smile. Will inwardly groaned, not sure what she was more worried about, her mother meeting the Fentons, or her mother meeting with her teachers.

As she walked towards them with her mother she could feel the Heart of Kandrakar screaming at her to turn around, but that really wasn't an option at the moment, and besides, Danny wasn't going to do anything bad.

"Hey Danny, what's up?" Will said as she got closer, getting the boy's attention.

Danny looked over towards her and she was surprised by the lack of energy in his face. "We're at a school on a Saturday. Obviously something is very very wrong," Danny said trying to keep up a pretense that everything was alright. But it was pretty easy to tell it was just bravado. His Aether was flickering as larger than normal wavers of mystic energy leaked from the Ring of Rage around his neck. Will saw the boy wince a little, a hand going over his chest as he mouthed the words 'shut up'.

She hadn't seen him since that day on the roof, but his condition seemed to be deteriorating. He had canceled his training with her, in personal at least, opting to give her a lesson over the phone on 'Aether finger printing'. It was a concept where an object can hold onto the pattern of a Aether of someone who had used it over and over again. Explaining why her powers seemed to be giving personalities to the random objects that was not her own, when she put her Quintessence powers into them. Because they were imitating the nature of the people who had used them over the years.

It had also meant that by connecting to Raiden with her Aether, should could make use of the memories of the previous master's skills in battle. Though she still needed to practice midair and long ranged attacks.

"Who's this Danny-boy?" Jack asked as he turned to them with his huge grin. He looked as much as a grizzly bear as he had before as he towered over everyone else in his bright orange jumpsuit.

"Hello, I'm Susan Vandom. I'm Will's mother," Susan introduced herself to Jack and Maddie. She made the mistake of offering her hand to shake to Jack.

"It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Jack Fenton, and this is my wife Maddie and our two kids, Jazz and Danny!" Jack said, probably louder than necessary as he grabbed the poor woman's hand and nearly ripped her arm straight off as he violently shook it.

"The pleasure is all mine," Susan said as she rubbed her sore arm once Jack had released it from his death grasp.

"Sorry about that. Jack gets really excited about meeting new people," Maddie said as she stepped forward and shook the other woman's hand, a lot more gently.

"That's... alright," Susan said trying to stay polite in front of her daughter. "So, what do you do for a living?" She asked hoping to start up some small talk. Danny and Jazz both groaned that she had actually asked that.

"Oh, we're professional ghost hunters." Maddie said with a smile.

"Ghost... hunters?" Susan said looking down at her own daughter, as if for confirmation that she had heard right.

"Yep! The Fenton Family are the best ghost hunters you'll ever find!" Jack shouted, gesturing to the family chart. "All the biggest names in ghost hunting, right here! Go ahead and take a look!"

"Ri...right." Susan said looking at the chart as if to humor them. But her eyes widened as she recognized one of the names. "Vlad Masters!?"

Will's eyes also widened at that and looked at the chart. In the position of godfather was the name Vlad Masters.

"Yep. The V-man was also a great ghost hunter. Fought off quite a few of the things. We all started together back in college, but Vladdy stopped after he was swamped with work. Being a billionaire must have been a lot of work," Jack said sounding both proud and a bit disappointed.

"He got back into the swing of things in that last year of his life, but sadly the ghosts got him," Maddie said, shaking her head.

"What do you mean, 'the ghosts got him'?" Will asked glancing towards Danny who was looking away. She was shocked to see his Aether turning a dark red as he listened.

"They say it was an accident, but an accident doesn't destroy an entire acre of land," Jack said, sounding furious. "If I ever find the ghost that did it. I'll..."

"I've got to go get some air," Danny said, interrupted his father walking away from all of them.

"We shouldn't have brought it up in front of him," Maddie said, sounding a little guilty. "He and Vlad had been so close. He didn't talk for a week after it had happened. I suppose he must still be sad about it."

Will watched as Danny walked away. His Aether was a dark crimson red. He wasn't sad, he was enraged. "I'm going to go to the bathroom," Will said, reaching for the common excuse before running off after Danny. She didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she felt like she had to follow him. She didn't even realize she was leaving her mother with Jack and Maddie.

* * *

Elyon was in a horrible mode. She was being forced to listen to everyone talk about how great their extended family was, while she didn't really have any. She had run off away from her parents, not caring what happened.

She didn't even understand why her mood was so horrible, but she didn't really care. She hated everyone at the moment.

Her mood only got worse as she saw Danny slipping out of the gym and then Will following him. It was just as she thought; Will was trying to take Danny, just like she took everything else. She hated both of them for it, but for some reason she wanted evidence. She wanted to see it for her own.

So Elyon followed them as they made their ways separately towards the roof. She was determined to get to the bottom of everything.

* * *

Danny stood on the edge of the roof, looking out at the red moon. He could feel it, whispering to him, calling out to him, just as loudly as the ring around his neck. It seemed so much bigger than before, three times larger than a normal moon, though that was all simply in Danny's head. His eyes were dilating rapidly as hot anger pumped through his blood.

Vlad's mocking laughter echoing inside of his head, the finally pleading words of Dani as she lost her hold on life and slipped away into a puddle of ectoplasm, the feeling of being completely powerless to save her. What good was all this power if he couldn't save one little girl?

'But you could have saved her,' the ring seemed to whisper, 'You would simply have had to kill the man who hurt her before he managed to get his hands on her.'

"Shut up... shut up..." Danny said over and over again. His body was shaking. It was true. Danny couldn't help but to feel like it was true. If he had simply dealt with Vlad once and for all before it had come to that, then Dani would still be alive.

'You must put a stop to though who would betray you. Show them that you are their rightful ruler!' the Ring of Rage growled into Danny's mind while playing the voices of Sam and Tucker as they had turned their backs on him, Cornelia's voice as she declared him to be a threat, his own father labeling him a monster.

It hurt so much. The knowledge that no matter what he did, people would fear him, they would always hate him. He just wanted the pain to stop. He didn't want to feel this anymore.

'I know how you can get away from the pain,' Danny's heart sank as he felt the words passing through his spirit, 'Just let it go. Let go of this humanity that binds you. Let go of your emotions and be free of death.'

"I... I..." Danny mumbled, his will slowly but surely breaking down. He knew just what waited down such a path. The destruction and evil that would come from him giving up his mortality. But at that moment, with all the hate and the pain flowing through him. The idea of no longer feeling the pain... it was tempting. The voices were growing louder and louder, along with the promise of an end. Danny's right hand started to move up towards the ring, the knowledge of how to remove his own humanity flickering in and out of him consciousness.

"Danny?" Danny froze and the voices stopped short as he heard her voice. Danny turned his head to see Will standing on the roof behind him, a look of concern clear on her face.

"W...Will," Danny said in the dazed voice of a half drowned man, "What is it? Why did you follow me?"

"Danny, what's the matter with you?" Will asked, "I can sense your Aether, you're anger." Danny looked down at his own hands, seeing the flakes of dark red aura in his Aether. He was angry, but he couldn't stop it. "You started losing control when your parents brought up Vlad Masters." Danny twitched at the name and looked away from the girl, not wanting her to see the anger and pain in his eyes. "They said he was murdered by a ghost. Is that why you are mad? Was he one of the people you couldn't save?"

"No," Danny said his anger continuing to rise. The Ring of Rage laughing as its job was being done for it. "I don't feel sorry for Vlad. That bastard got what he deserved," Danny said his hands clenching into fists and his body shaking in anger. "He should be grateful I finished him quickly. It was more than he deserved."

Will's eyes widened in shock. "Danny?"

"I should have killed him slowly! I should have draw it out and made him suffer, just like he did with Dani!" Danny shouted, his voice echoing as his eyes turned red from his dark Aether. "He was foolish enough to anger me, and for that he earn his death!" But his anger hesitated when he looked at Will and saw pity in her eyes.

"Danny, this isn't like you," Will said, "It's the ring. You need to fight it. Don't let it control you." He knew it was the ring. He wanted to fight it. But he was so tired of fighting. Hadn't he earned the right to rest? To give in and just let what happens happen?

He had once tried to be a hero, and all that did was cause him pain. He didn't want it any more. He didn't want the responsibility. He didn't want the heartache. He didn't want the pain. He cared this burden because he had to. He had to. He had to keep the ring. Danny started to shiver as the weight of his burden pressed down on him. The ring whispering words of temptation into his mind.

"Danny, give me the ring," Will said holding out her hand. Danny froze at her words. "You need to take a break from this. I'll hold onto the ring for you and..."

"Is that it..." Danny said, Will stopped at the anger in his voice. The shadows on the roof top began to shift around him as his Aether grew more and more unstable. "You are just trying to trick me into giving you my right to the Heart. I should have known I couldn't trust you."

"Danny, that's not what I..." Will started but Danny won't let her finish.

"If you want it then you will have to take it from me!" Danny roared angrily, his dark power exploding around him, becoming easily visible even to the untrained eye in its sheer quantity. The dark greens and purples rimmed in black covered Danny's body as the shadows started to move out of the ground and form in the air. "The Heart is mine! And Kandrakar will never take it! Not through trickery or through force! I will destroy anyone who tries to take it from me! I... I..." Danny's words petered out as she saw the sad expression on Will's face.

"Will... I'm sorry... I'm..." Danny turned away from her. "Go... just go. It isn't safe around me. Just go." He pleaded with her, trying to regain his self control.

Will opened her mouth, trying to find words to say, but then just closed her mouth and nodded. She turned back to the door to go back down into the school but before she went down the stairs she turned back to the Ghost King, who looked more like a scared by than ever before. "Danny, I know you wouldn't hurt us. You're a good friend, and I trust you." Will said before closing the door behind her and leaving Danny to vent.

* * *

Elyon was terrified. What the hell was Danny?

She had expected to find him having a romantic meeting behind her back with Will, not that he would suddenly confess to murder and start to give off an evil glow.

'The Heart is mine!'

For some reason those words echoed in the young blonds mind as she ran through the halls, not even sure where she was running to. She just had to get away from that thing.

How could she have been dating that for all this time? What even was Danny?

Not paying attention to where she was going, Elyon ran straight into Cedric. "Elyon, what is the matter?" The blond man asked in his deep voice.

"It's I... Danny was... He was glowing and... and..." Elyon's words came out disjointed and confused, a mild sob forming in her throat, stopping her from breathing properly. "He and Will were on the roof and... and I followed them and... Danny is some kind of monster."

Cedric had to surprise a grin as he tried to keep on a comforting face. "You saw what he is really like," Cedric said in a forced pained voice. "I know how terrible he truly is."

Elyon blinked up at the book seller. "You... you knew?"

Cedric nodded before looking around. He grabbed onto Elyon's hand and started pulling her away. "Come, I'll explain everything, but it isn't safe here."

Elyon was confused and scared, but something inside her made her feel like she could trust Cedric, that he would never lie to her. And so, she followed him, completely oblivious to the wicked grin that crossed his face.

* * *

Cedric's eyes flashed a reptilian yellow as he glanced around the hallways of the school, tasting the air to make sure that no one was following him as he lead the princess to a place where he could tell her 'the truth'. His month of waiting was finally paying off.

"Elyon. Before we began, I just want you to know that I wanted to tell you everything the moment I was sure of who you were, but I couldn't risk it. Not with that... boy so nearby," Cedric said as he pulled Elyon into a classroom and knelt in front of her.

"Cedric, what are you talking about?" Elyon said still jittery from fright after seeing Danny unleashing his dark power. His strange echoing voice ringing in her ears.

"I am sorry to say this Elyon. But everyone has been lying to you," Cedric said, pulling out a list of birth records of the town. "You were not born here in Heatherfield. You were not even born in this world."

"What!?" Elyon shouted in shock, though for some reason, she didn't doubt it for an instant.

"I know this will be hard to accept. But you were not born in this world. You were born in a wonderful kingdom far away from here, to the royal family of Meridian," Cedric said try to keep up a fast enough pace to get everything out. "You were stolen from us as a baby by the Guardians of Kandrakar who wished to use you in their games of power."

"I'm... I'm a princess!" Elyon stammered out.

Cedric nodded, "That and so much more. You are the center of the entire world of Meridian, it's very mystical Heart. And nearly everyone in your life has been trying to get that power from you."

"I... I don't understand. How could this be happening," Elyon said shakily.

"Elyon, I wish I could have told you, but it wasn't safe. I was always afraid that the boy would realize who I was and destroy me before I could explain everything to you," the serpent book seller said in what he believed to be an apologetic voice. Not that acting skills were needed when your audience is under a spell that forces them to believe your performance.

"You mean Danny," Elyon said latching onto that. "What is he? I thought he was just another kid."

"That boy is the most dangerous being in all the worlds, the Pariah, ruler of the land of Tartarus, the King of Ghosts," Cedric said, not having to fake his shiver at the thought. Elyon's eyes widened. "He found out that Kandrakar had taken you from us and wished to seize the power that is your birth right for himself. But it can only be given to him willingly, so he sought to trick you into believing that you were in love with him, when really it was simply the Heart of Meridian he was after."

'The Heart is mine!' Danny had shouted in his blind rage, not realizing that Elyon had been watching. "When he was talking to Will about the Heart belonging to him... he meant me."

Cedric grinned and nodded. "Yes. That is exactly right. Will and her friends are the new Guardians of Kandrakar, servants of the realm that kidnapped you. In fact, Will is their leader," the snake man said playing off the girl's hate for the red head, "Kandrakar and Tartarus have been at war for longer than recorded history, and each of them wished to use your power to overwhelm the other."

"But I don't have any power. I'm just a normal girl," Elyon said, sounding as she desperately wanted that to be true. But somewhere deep inside her, the knowledge that she had power was starting to turn up the strength that lay dormant inside of her, breathing new vigor into the spell that held her mind and heart captive.

Cedric could taste the flow of magic starting to gather around the child of light. "That is where you are wrong Elyon. You are the Heart of Meridian, the greatest source of mystic energy that Meridian, our home world, knows," Cedric said as he lowered himself to look into her eyes, pressing the magic of the Amalgamation to its limits. "The moment your brother caught wind that you were still alive he sent me to find you and bring you home. Princess Elyon."

"Br...brother." The words formed on Elyon's lips and a deep longing started to build up inside of her, urging her to move forward, to return to where she had come from.

"Please Elyon," Cedric said offering the girl his hand. She had to take it. She had to come willingly with him in order for the protections around Meridian's Heart to allow her free passage between worlds. For a second, it looked as though Elyon really was going to take his hand. She was reaching out for it, hesitantly, as if something deep down told her not to, but her conscious mind was struggling against that gut instinct.

"Elyon!" The girl's hand snapped back as she heard her parents' voices calling out in the hallway. "Elyon!" "Sweetie, where are you!?"

"My parents," Elyon said in surprise. They must have gotten worried when she disappeared on them and they are now looking for her.

Cedric's upper lip twitched, he had been so close. But then again, this was just another thread that tied her to this world and her old happy life. One more thread for him to sever. "No they aren't. And it is time you see them for what they really are," Cedric said as he went to the door, glancing out to see Mr. and Mrs. Brown walking by.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, the beast pulled out a glowing green stone laced with Styx magic similar to the Tracker's flail. A magic artifact that could be used to dispel glamours.

Elyon peered out around the door as Cedric moved in behind her parents and lifted up the stone above him, letting its light fall on the couple. Mr. and Mrs. Brown gasped as if stung by something and their bodies shimmered.

Elyon let out a scream as the parents she thought she had known her entire life were replaced by two twisted figures with toad like green skin and stony plat like warts. Their hair had become a disgusting mop of green seaweed and their faces were narrow with big lips and teeth.

"You have been lied to all your life, Elyon, but the truth will finally set you free!" Cedric said with a twisted grin as he looked down at the terrified faces of the creatures that had been the Browns.

"Ce...Cedric," Mrs. Brown gasped, trembling in fear as her husband tried to shield her with his body, but then her eyes found Elyon. "Elyon, get away from him, he's dangerous."

"What are you!?" Elyon shouted in fear. As the two figures that she had once thought were her parents started towards her she panicked throwing up her hands. "Stay away from me!" A pulse of mystic energy shot out of the girl, pushing the two hard against the wall. As the two creatures slide to the ground, Elyon looked down at her own glowing white hands in shock. "How... how did I do that?" She said, sounding like she was in more awe than fear at that moment.

"The Heart of Meridian is waking up inside of you. It isn't safe for you here anymore," Cedric said. "If the Ghost King or Guardians sensed that little display, then they will know that you are awakening to your powers and that they can now be stolen from you." He held out her hand once again to the scared girl. "Trust me Elyon, and I will bring you home safely to your real family."

Elyon looked up into the book seller's golden eyes and this time, nothing stopped her from taking his hand.

* * *

Caleb cursed under his breath as he moved though the school searching for Elyon. He couldn't believe that he let the princess get out of his sight. If it hadn't been for that small group of giggling girls trying to flirt with him, he wouldn't have lost track of one of the only important ones.

Honestly, this wasn't what he was trained to do. Shadowing people was more of Blunk's field, Caleb was a breaking and entering and improvised combat kind of guy. But unfortunately, the toad wouldn't be able to go unnoticed in a school. Not with the lack of open air to hide his stink.

But he stopped grumbling about his lousy luck when he heard a girl's scream. Rushing off in that direction, Caleb arrived on the scene to find two lowland Meridianers lying on the ground. "What happened here?" Caleb said in shock as he checked on them.

The man's eyes opened as he looked up at Caleb. "Cedric. He has Elyon," the man said in a panicked voice, "Please, get the Guardians."

Caleb's eyes widened as the words registered with him. Phobos had made his move.

* * *

Will walked back down towards the gym in a sort of haze of her own. The guilt of not being able to do anything to help her friend when he was falling apart like that weighed on her, and the constant screams of terror coming from the Heart of Kandrakar didn't help it any.

She was actually not scared herself. Throughout their training, Danny would randomly throw intimidating auras at her to help her build up a resistance to them, so even when his Aether had gone out of control and he had his panic attack, it only made her feel sad instead of frightened. A sadness that was deeply inset into Danny's own aura that had been leaking into her.

Danny wouldn't hurt her, not on purpose, for some reason, Will felt like this was true. That Danny was a friend and could be trusted. If he wasn't, he would have never let her see him in such a weakened state.

Maybe that was the reason why Danny wasn't that frightening to her now. Because he lacked that cool confidence from before. Sure he might still be far more powerful than she was, but he wasn't as strong as he usually was, she could tell that much.

Will froze on her heels when she sensed a sudden flare of raw magic power. It was strong, and not coming from the roof where she could still feel Danny. "What was that?" She mumbled in confusion.

It wasn't like anything she had ever felt before. It was pure raw power, not the refined energy of the Guardians or Danny. But it disappeared just as quickly as it had come, before Will could even get a good sense of where it had come from. The Heart of Kandrakar was going insane, though not with the same fear as just a minute ago.

"Maybe I should get the other gir..." Will didn't even have time to finish that thought when her mother's voice shouted out at her.

"Will! There you are!" Will turned to see Susan walking briskly towards her. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Why didn't you come back to the gym after your bathroom break?"

"Well... I was heading back to the gym right now," Will said nervously.

"You sure took a long time. Maybe you were hoping to go off and talk with your friend while his parents kept me busy," Susan said putting her hands on her hips.

"Not at all," Will said, wincing as she remembered that she had left her mother with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Hopefully they didn't do anything to horribly embarrassing.

"Either way, I feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with those two on a daily basis," Susan said shaking her head, "Their daughter was alright though, and I'm sure your friend is a good person."

"Ya... he is," Will said, trying to keep the regret out of her voice.

"Alright, now that I found you let's get moving," Susan said grabbing Will's hand and starting to pull her along, "We still have to talk to your teachers about how you are doing."

Will's heart sank at those words and all other troubles seemed a lot less important. She hated open house.

* * *

Will was trying her best to not let her emotions run wild. She could feel the temptation of just shock everything and everyone as her mother sat down with her teacher, Mr. Collins, in order to discuss her performance in his history class. She could feel the static running through her arms, giving her goose bumps and making the hairs stand on end.

It wasn't like she was terrible at history. The problem she had was that the two of them were dating, and the atmosphere was less than professional. Will had never really liked the idea of her mom dating again, it just felt wrong, and the subject being her history teacher just made it more wrong.

Sure it was selfish to not want her mom to try to find someone special, but she was fourteen, she was supposed to be selfish. She couldn't be selfish all the time because of being a Guardian, so she had to make up for lost time whenever she could.

"It's good to see you again, Susan," Mr. Collins said putting his hand on Will's mom's and smiling through his stupid mustache. Will wanted to gag at the corny love. She would do anything to get out of this.

"Move it!" Someone shouted in the hallway as a hole was pushed open in the line leading into the classroom and Caleb muscled his way in, not caring at the angry comments of the people he pushed aside. The brown haired boy ran straight up the leader of the Guardians and grabbed her arm, pulling her up out of her seat before leaning in and whispering in her ear. "Lord Cedric is here, he's got Elyon."

Will's eyes widened as she nodded, quickly moving to follow Caleb. "Will, where are you going? Get back here!" Her mother called out to her.

"Sorry, something important, can't explain, have to go!" Will shouted over her shoulder, though she didn't slow down, she knew she was going to be in trouble later, but now was not the time to care. She had to go and find the others. They couldn't let Cedric take Elyon back to Meridian. They had to keep her safe.

She just hoped that they could save her before Danny caught wind of this, in his current state of mind, she wasn't sure he could handle the shock of Elyon being the Heart of Meridian.

* * *

"Come on already!" Will hissed as she had to drag Hay Lin away from her mom and dad.

"But I haven't shown them my volcano yet," the Wind Guardian whined as she grudgingly followed her leader. She was the only one of the girls who had resisted leaving their parents alone out of a desire to actually show them the school and how they were doing rather than strictly damage control as they interacted with teachers and other parents.

"Hay Hay, we have more important things to do than show your parents your exploding dirt mound," Irma said as she ran up with Caleb to join them, "Caleb says that old scale face has grabbed Elyon."

"We need to move, if she gets taken to Meridian things are going to get really really bad," Taranee said, visibly nervous about the possible consequences.

"Why is he acting now? I mean, parent's night?" Cornelia said as they all reached the front entrance and rushed out into the night, "How are we even supposed to find them?"

"I'm not really sure. I checked the map, but no new portals have shown up, so I have no idea where they are going," Will admitted.

"So we are just running around hoping to stumble across them, oh that's just great," Cornelia said angrily. Will thought about snapping at the Earth Guardian, but a glance at the blond guardian told her just how worried the girl was about her friend.

"We need a way to track them. There has to be a way," Caleb said.

Will thought about going to Danny for help. He could probably do it. Probably. But he was in no fit state to be finding out about Elyon. She had to do this herself, he had trained her, so she had to put it to use.

She could still remember the sudden feel of raw mystic energy pulsing through the air. The heart of Meridian must have been reacting, but even though Elyon had all that power, her Aether hadn't yet adapted to control it, so Will couldn't just look for the girl's Aether. But maybe there was another way.

Since the mystic energy was still in its raw state, wouldn't it be drawn to a powerful source of Aether? If Will could draw up enough Quintessence, then perhaps she could pull in the mystic energy that Elyon was leaking and find out where she was from that.

"We should split up. Cover more ground," Hay Lin suggested.

"What would we do if we did find them then? It isn't like any of us can fight Cedric one on one." Taranee pointed out.

"Do you have a better plan brain girl?" Cornelia said sharply.

"Guys, quiet down I need to concentrate," Will said as she closed her eyes and started to draw on her power. Cornelia was about to snap at her when she saw electricity flickering around Will's body, dancing through the air and causing ribbons of light to appear around her. Will took a deep breath and opened her eyes, glancing from one ribbon to another until she saw one that was much stronger and more solid than the others. She got used to the feel of how it reacted to her own Aether before dropping the electric field around her. "They're this way!" she shouted before running on ahead, leaving the others to follow behind her.

* * *

"Hurry Princesss..." Cedric had to chomp down on his snake's tongue as he moved as fast as he could make the girl follow through the streets towards his bookstore. With the objective so close at hand, he was starting to lose his nerve. If the Guardians or that Ghost King found him at this point, he would be dead and all of his work would be undone. Well, maybe not dead if the Guardians were the ones that found him, but trying to steal something from a Ghost King was suicide, only a complete fruit loop would even consider it.

"Cedric, where are we going?" Elyon asked as she stumbled along in the dark. She was trembling from a mixture of cold and fear.

"To the bookstore. Once there we can take a portal back to Meridian, your one true home," Cedric said, wishing he could just pick the girl up and sprint for it, especially when he heard the familiar voice of a cocky rebel brat behind him.

"There they are!" Caleb shouted, pointing them out as the Guardians came up with him.

"It's the book seller!" Taranee said in surprise.

"He's the beast? But he was so cute," Cornelia said in disappointment.

"Co...Cornelia. What are you doing here?" Elyon said in surprise.

"Run Elyon! They are the agents of Kandrakar, the ones who stole you away from your real family," Cedric said trying to pull the girl away from them, as his own heartbeat started to quicken. He couldn't transform, not in front of Elyon, but without his true form, he was no match for the Guardians.

"Oh no you don't!" Caleb shouted as the rebel tackled Cedric to the ground and away from Elyon who look on in horror. "You left me in a dungeon to rot!" He shouted as he struggled to get a hold on Cedric, but the beast used his inhuman strength to quickly get the upper hand on the human boy.

"We need to help him," Cornelia said as she watched Cedric twisting Caleb's arm.

"Right. Guardians Unite!" Will shouted as she pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar. The girls were obscured from vision by a bright flash of pink light, and when the light disappeared they were flying ten feet in the air with wings growing out of their backs.

Elyon trembled as she looked at Cornelia, someone she had thought she known her entire life. "What are you!?" She cried in panic.

Hay Lin summoned up a strong gust of wind to pull Cedric and Caleb apart before throwing the snakeman into a wall where vines emerged from the ground to bind the beast. "Hold him still!" Will shouted as she moved in with the Heart of Kandrakar to reveal Cedric's true form.

"Stop it!" Elyon shouted as she saw Cedric struggling against the vines while Will went in for what she believed was the kill. Elyon just wanted it to stop. Everything. She couldn't take it anymore, all of this lying, all of this betrayal. And she wanted to stop everyone from hurting Cedric.

She threw up her hands as her mystic energy rushed to the surface, racing quickly out of her. The ground underneath her feet cracked under the pressure of the girl's magic and the nearby street lamps were twisted into odd shapes. Entire cars were lifted from the ground to go hurtling through the air underneath the force of her power.

The Guardians were taken completely by surprise and sent flying into the air as the Heart of Meridian unleashed her true strength. And once it was done Elyon stood there staring at her own hands which glowed a startling white. "Cedric... what did I just do?" She asked looking up at the book seller as he started to push himself up.

But Cedric only looked on in open mouthed terror, his eyes fixed on a point right behind the princess.

"Elyon?" a stiff, echoing voice said. One that sent a shiver down the girl's spin. She turned around to see a boy standing there in the middle of the street, his dark green eyes staring at her with an uncomprehending expression, dark wisps flouting around him as his negative energy flowed out over everyone in the area. A sickly green ring dangling from around him neck.

The King of All Ghosts had arrived.

* * *

 **In the end this chapter was a little over 12K words long. Though it could have been longer if I had chosen to keep it going until after Elyon was in Meridian.**


End file.
